Pope Claims Church is Where Peter Is, Plus Comments on Vatileaks
Pope Benedictus XVI
The Pope made a statement that should be looked at:
Benedict XVI’s message to families: “Where Peter is, there is the Church”Saint Ambrose, Milan’s patron saint, came from a Roman family and has always kept his ties with the Eternal City and the Church of Rome alive, affirming and praising the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. Peter represents “the Church’s foundation and the magisterium of discipline.” He then pronounced his famous statement: “Where Peter is, there is the Church.” http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/family2012-15607/
Two points: First, before getting to what Pope Benedict said, according to the Bible there is no “Eternal City” for Christians in this age (cf. Hebrews 13:14)–and if there were, it would be more likely be Jerusalem (cf. Revelation 3:21; 21:12) and not Rome (cf. Revelation 17:9-11).
But, second, and to deal with the Pope’s quote, the Bible teaches that the true church is where Jesus, not Peter. While the Pope probably said this as part of his ecumenical plans, this is not what the Bible teaches (note: both Catholic and Protestant translations are shown to demonstrate this):
20 For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20, Douay-Rheims)
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20, NKJV)
The Bible does not teach that about Peter.
Something that should be important to all who profess to be Christian is that the true Church of God would have the same practices and teachings of the apostles, including the Apostle Peter. And sadly, the Church of Rome has deviated from them in many respects (for some details, please see the article Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Living Church of God?). And those that think that Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, etc. have apostolic succession, really should study the article on Apostolic Succession.
As far as Peter goes, essentially the Vatican teaches that Peter was given the “keys of the kingdom” by Jesus and there is a mosaic of keys on the entrance to the Basilica at the Vatican. Here is what they look like:
Keys at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City (Joyce Thiel, June 2009)
Yet, Rome has misunderstood certain scriptures in Matthew they tend to apply to Peter and the keys–for details, please check out the article Was Peter the Rock Who Alone Received the Keys of the Kingdom?
In addition to misunderstanding certain scriptures, Rome itself has had other problems this year (beyond the sex scandals) as Vatileaks reported, so the Pope decided to make some public comments:
Christian Post – 1 June 2012…in his remarks on Wednesday, the Pontiff spoke about the “Vatileaks” scandal publicly for the first time since the news was reported, with the intention of reassuring Catholics.”The events of recent days involving the Curia and my collaborators have brought sadness to my heart,” said the pope at the close of the Vatican’s general audience…Over the past several months Paolo Gabriele, a butler who worked at the Pope’s household, had been sneaking confident papal correspondence into the public domain. The documents showcased various internal power struggles within the Vatican hierarchy, as well as possible corruption.
Here is a little more about some of that:
CBC.ca – 1 June 2012 he Vatican has been under intense scrutiny for almost six months now, the result of leaked correspondence – the so-called Vatileaks– that alleges financial corruption and intrigue within the internal government of the Holy See…Just a week ago the president of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was ousted after receiving a unanimous vote of no confidence from bank overseers.Since then, Vatican authorities arrested the Pope’s own butler, Paolo Gabriele, on the suspicion that he had been leaking private letters to Gianluigi Nuzzi, a local investigative journalist looking into the corruption allegations…
This Vatileaks scandal, as it came to be known, began in January 2012 when an independent Italian TV station, La7, released a series of confidential letters, the first one being between Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano and the Pope dating back to March 2011.
In the letter, Vigano alleges there were “so many situations of corruption and abuse of power long rooted in the various departments” of the Vatican’s internal government that was costing the Holy See millions of euros…An official Vatican statement in February maintained that the sentiments in Vigano’s letters are representative of “fears unsupported by truth,” and are not accurate.
The Vatican has had a lot of scandals and likely will have more.
Irrespective of Vatican scandals, all who profess Christ should live by the Bible. And any church that Peter would attend today would as well.
Those interested in learning more about Peter, ecumenical issues, as well as early Christianity of the original eastern churches as well as changes that many have adopted, may wish to carefully study the following articles:
Was Peter the Rock Who Alone Received the Keys of the Kingdom? How should Matthew 16:18-19 be understood?
The Apostle Peter He was an original apostle and early Christian leader. Where was Peter buried? Where did Peter die?
Apostolic Succession What really happened? Did structure and beliefs change? Are many of the widely-held current understandings of this even possible? Did you know that Catholic scholars really do not believe that several of the claimed “apostolic sees” of the Orthodox have apostolic succession–despite the fact that the current pontiff himself seems to wish to ignore this view? Is there actually a true church that has ties to any of the apostles that is not part of the Catholic or Orthodox churches? Read this article if you truly are interested in the truth on this matter!
Why Should American Catholics Should Fear Unity with the Orthodox? Are the current ecumenical meetings a good thing or will they result in disaster?
Orthodox Must Reject Unity with the Roman Catholics Will unification make the Orthodox better? What about end time Babylon? What are the issues? Why should such unity be rejected?
Early Church History: Who Were the Two Major Groups Professed Christ in the Second and Third Centuries? Did you know that many in the second and third centuries felt that there were two major, and separate, professing Christian groups in the second century, but that those in the majority churches tend to now blend the groups together and claim “saints” from both? “Saints” that condemn some of their current beliefs. Who are the two groups?
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Living Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions. Português: Qual é fiel: A igreja católica romana ou a igreja viva do deus? Tambien Español: Cuál es fiel: ¿La iglesia católica romana o La Iglesia del Dios Viviente? Auch: Deutsch: Welches zuverlässig ist: Die Römisch-katholische Kirche oder die lebende Kirche von Gott?
Some Similarities and Differences Between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Living Church of God Both groups claim to be the original church, but both groups have differing ways to claim it. Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3 from 31 A.D. to present: information on all of the seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3.
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