The Primacy of Peter, with N. Afanassief, et al.

The Primacy of Peter: Essays in Ecclesiology and the Early Church.

Christ had constituted the primacy of Peter and of his successors who were "sublime" in power, constant in the faith, shepherds of the flock.

Some, but not nearly all, Protestant denominations accept the Primacy of Peter concept, but believe it was only relevant during the lifetime of Peter.

The different orders of liturgies used for sanctification of Church building, marriage, ordination etc. reveal that the primacy of Peter is a part of living faith of the Church.

Stephen Ray asserts that "There is little in the history of the Church that has been more heatedly contested than the primacy of Peter and the See of Rome."

In Catholicism, it is also argued that this Primacy of Peter extends in perpetuity to the Pope over other bishops throughout the Church via the doctrine of Apostolic succession.

Claiming the ancient primacy of Peter and the title of "Apostolic See", it remained the last court of episcopal appeal in serious matters for the whole Church, East and West.

Jesus thus does not declare the primacy of Peter, but rather declares that his church will be built upon the foundation of the revelation of and confession of faith of Jesus as the Christ.

As a result, the primacy of Peter is relevant to the relationship between the bishop and the presbyters, not between the bishop of Rome and the other bishops who are all equally holding Peter's chair.

His sermon on the primacy of Peter (which mirrored exactly what he had said on the subject in a tract written before he became pope, "De primatu Romani pontificis" ) explored the authority by which the pope governed, the Petrine commission.

"Let us pray so that the primacy of Peter, entrusted to poor human beings, may always be exercised in this original sense desired by the Lord, so that it will be increasingly recognised in its true meaning by brothers who are still not in communion with us."

The council defined a twofold primacy of Peter, one in papal teaching on faith and morals (the charism of infallibility), and the other a primacy of jurisdiction involving government and discipline of the Church, submission to both being necessary to Catholic faith and salvation.

In the following years, Rome's appeals to the East were based on the unique authority of the Apostolic See and the primacy of Peter, over against the powers of councils as defended by the East (councils, for example, had endorsed that lofty title which Rome contested).