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T h e F a t h e r s K n o w B e s t
Peter's primacy
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This Rock
Volume 3, Number 2
 February 1992 
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ONLY someone prejudiced against the Catholic understanding of the papacy could say the early Church failed to recognize the pope's unique position. Take a gander:
Tertullian
"Peter alone [among the apostles] do I find married, and through mention of his mother-in-law. I presume he was a monogamist; for the Church, built upon him, would for the future appoint to every degree of orders none but monogamists" [1 Tim. 3:2, 12]. (On Monogamy 8:4 [A.D. 213]).
Clement of Alexandria
"[T]he blessed Peter, the chosen, the pre-eminent, the first among the disciples, for whom alone with himself the Savior paid the tribute [Matt. 17:27], quickly g.asped and understood their meaning. And what does he say? 'Behold, we have left all and have followed you'" [Matt. 19:27; Mark 10:28] (Who Is the Rich Man That is Saved? 21:3-5 [A.D. 190]).
Origen
"Look at [Peter], the great foundation of the Church, that most solid of rocks, upon whom Christ built the Church [Matt. 16:18]. And what does our Lord say to him? 'Oh you of little faith,' he says, 'why do you doubt?'" [Matt. 14:31] (Homilies on Exodus 5:4 [post A.D. 244]).
Cyprian
"Our Lord, whose commands we ought to fear and observe, says in the Gospel, by way of assigning the episcopal dignity and settling the plan of his Church: 'I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever things you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, they will be loosed also in heaven'" [Matt. 16:18-19]. From that time the ordination of bishops and the plan of the Church flows on through the changes of times and successions, for the Church is founded upon the bishops, and every act of the Church is controlled by these same rulers. Since this has indeed been established by divine law, I marvel at the rash boldness of certain persons who have desired to write me as if they were writing letters in the name of the Church . . ." (Epistle to the Lapsed 33:(27):1 [A.D. 250]).
Cyprian
"And the Lord too, in the Gospel, when the disciples abandoned him while he was speaking, turned to the twelve and said, 'And do you too wish to go away?' Peter answered him saying, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we believe and know that you are the Son of the living God' [John 6:66-69]. There speaks Peter, upon whom the Church would be built, teaching in the name of the Church and showing that even if a stubborn and proud multitude withdraws because it does not wish to obey, yet the Church does not withdraw from Christ. The people joined to the priest and the flock clinging to their shepherd are the Church. You ought to know, then, that the bishop is in the Church and the Church in the bishop, and if someone is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church. They vainly flatter themselves who creep up, not having peace with the priests of God, believing that they are secretly in communion with certain individuals. For the Church, which is one and Catholic, is not split nor divided, but it is indeed united and joined by the cement of priests who adhere one to another" (Epistle to Florentius Pupianus 66:(69):8 [A.D. 254]).
Cyprian
"For Peter, whom the Lord chose first and upon whom he built his Church, when Paul later disagreed with him about circumcision, did not claim for himself insolently or assume anything arrogantly, so as to say that he [Peter] held the primacy and that he ought rather to be obeyed by novices and those more recently arrived" (Epistle to Quintas 71:3 [A.D. 254-255]).
Cyprian
"On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was, but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?" (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; first edition [A.D. 251]).
Cyprian
"It is on one man that he [Jesus] builds his Church; and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles after his Resurrection, . . . nevertheless, in order that unity might be clearly shown, he established by his own authority a source for that unity, so that it may be clear that there is but one Church of Christ" (Ibid. 4; second edition).
Ephraim
"Simon, my follower, I have made you the foundation of the holy Church. I betimes called you Peter, because you will support all its buildings. You are the inspector of those who will build on Earth a Church for me. If they should wish to build what is false, you, the foundation, will condemn them. You are the head of the fountain from which my teaching flows; you are the chief of my disciples. Through you I will give drink to all peoples. Yours is that life-giving sweetness which I dispense. I have chosen you to be, as it were, the first-born in my institution so that, as the heir, you may be executor of my treasures. I have given you the keys of my kingdom. Behold, I have given you authority over all my treasures" (Homilies 4:1 [post A.D. 338]).
Cyril of Jerusalem
"The Lord is loving toward men, swift to pardon but slow to punish. Let no man despair of his own salvation. Peter, the first and foremost of the apostles, denied the Lord three times before a little servant girl, but he repented and wept bitterly. Weeping is demonstrative of repentance from the depth of the heart, which is why he not only received the forgiveness of his denial, but also kept his apostolic dignity without forfeit" (Catechetical Lectures 2:19 [A.D. 350]).
Cyril
"In the power of the same Holy Spirit, Peter, both the chief of the apostles and the keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, in the name of Christ healed Aeneas the paralytic at Lydda, which is now called Diospolis" [Acts 9:32-34] (Ibid. 17:27).
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