Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 3rd Sunday of Advent.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The ninth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.” There are thirty-five (35) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 936.
The Lord has made Saint Peter the visible foundation of His Church. There are those who have denied and some who still deny that there is anything visible about Mother Church, not her places of worship (church buildings), not her schools or hospitals. These people are neo-manichaen or neo-dualists who deny the dignity of matter, creation, and the body. Christ the Lord, assumed our corporeal nature in His Incarnation and does not despise matter, what is visible. In making Saint Peter the visible foundation of His one only Church, the Lord has given us a focal point on Earth, as we await His glorious Second Coming, when He will judge the living and the dead.
The Lord has remitted to Saint Peter the keys (cf. Matthew 16:19). When the Lord Jesus remitted or entrusted the keys to Saint Peter it was at least a symbolic act (cf. Isaiah 22:22; Luke 11:52; Revelation 1:18; 3:7). We use keys to start the car engine or enter or secure a house. The entrustment of the keys by the Lord Jesus to Saint Peter refer to his God given authority to bind and loose, on Earth and in Heaven.
The Bishop of the Church of Rome is the successor of Saint Peter. There have been two-hundred sixty-six (266) Bishops of Rome over these two thousand years. Often Saint Peter, who was the first Bishop of Rome (32–67), dying there as a Martyr, is not included in the numbering, but rather it is said that he has had so many successors (i.e. 265 successors currently). If we do not accept that the Bishop of Rome is the successor of Saint Peter we believe that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have more insight in providing for successive leadership of these United States then the Lord Jesus has for His bride Mother Church. How shortsighted it would have been to entrust the keys to Saint Peter only to have them buried with him who was crucified upside down.
There are three (3) titles especially associated with the Bishop of Rome: Chief or head of the College of Bishops; Vicar of Christ; Pastor of the entire Church on Earth. The college of Bishops is the body of Bishops with and under the leadership of the Bishop of Rome and never apart from him. While each Bishop in his particular diocese is a Vicar of Christ, a deputy, the Bishop of Rome is such for the entire Church. Similarly, as each diocesan Bishop is the proper Pastor of the particular Church entrusted to his care, the Bishop of Rome is the Pastor of the entire Church on Earth.
Pray for the Pope and heed his teachings.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr