Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - At his weekly teaching at the general audience in St Peter’s Square on June 7 Pope Benedict XVI continued his reflections on St Peter the first of the Apostles. “St John the evangelist in his narration of Jesus’ first meeting with Simon, the brother of Andrew, records a singular fact: Jesus, looking at him said : You are Simon, the son of John; you will be called Kefa (meaning Rock)". Jesus did not usually change the names of his disciples… But he did with Simon calling him Kefa, a name which was then translated into Greek Petros, and Latin Petrus. And it was translated because it was not only a name it was also a mandate which Petrus received in this way by the Lord”. The Pope then recalled that in the Old Testament, “a change in name was usually the prelude to the entrusting of a mission” and Christ’s decision to give Peter “special importance in the college of the apostles” is shown with considerable evidence in the Gospels.
“Peter himself is also aware of his special position - the Pope said - : it is he who often speaks on behalf of the others asking for the explanation of a difficult parable, or the exact meaning of a precept or a formal promise of a recompense. In particular, it is he who solves the embarrassment of certain situations intervening on behalf of them all … When Jesus asks: "Who do you say that I am?", Peter replies: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". By way of response Jesus makes his solemn declaration defining once and for all Peter’s role in the Church... to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosened in heaven". The three metaphors Jesus uses are clear: Peter will be the rock of foundation upon which the Church will stand; he will hold the keys of the kingdom of heaven to open or close to people as he judges; and he will be able to bind or loosen in the sense that he will prescribe or prohibit whatever he thinks necessary for the life of the Church, which is and will always be the Church of Christ, not of Peter.”
Also after his resurrection Jesus tells the women to go to announce the news to Peter, distinctly from the other apostles, and Peter will be the first witness among the apostles to witness an apparition of the Risen Lord. “His role firmly emphasised - the Pope said -, is a mark of continuity between his pre-eminence in the first group of the apostles and the pre-eminence which he will continue to have in the community born of the events of Easter”. Various key texts referring to Peter can be traced to the context of the Last Supper when Christ confers on Peter the ministry to confirm his brothers: this fact shows “how the Church born of the paschal memorial celebrated in the Eucharist has in the ministry entrusted to Peter one of its constitutive elements … and indicates also the ultimate significance of the Primacy: Peter, in all times, must be the custodian of communion with Christ; he must guide to communion with Christ; he must make sure the net does not break so universal communion may continue … Peter has the responsibility to guarantee in this way communion with Christ with the charity of Christ, guiding the realisation of this charity in every day life”.
Last of all Pope Benedict XVI asked those present to pray that the Primacy of Peter “may always be exercised in the original sense desired by the Lord and gradually recognised in its true significance by all our brothers and sisters not yet in full communion with us”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 8/6/2006, righe 41, parole 642)
