Here, too, it is evidently a question of a supremacy, not merely of honor, but of jurisdiction, which is conferred on Peter, not by the Church, but immediately by Christ, and which extends to all the faithful individually as well as collectively.

3. St. Peter is charged and empowered to feed the entire flock of Christ. For, after the resurrection Christ spoke to him the memorable words: "Feed My lambs; feed My sheep" (John xxi. 15-17). Now, this charge to feed the flock of Christ was given to Peter alone, not to the apostles at large; for it was to Peter alone that Our Lord addressed the question, "Lovest thou Me more than these ?" To him alone He foretold his future martyrdom; nay, to show that this privilege was to be peculiar to St. Peter, He asked him: "Lovest thou Me more than these ?"

To feed the flock or sheep of Christ means to rule them, to supply them with all the things conducive to religious life. Kings are called the shepherds of their people (Is. xliv. 28). Christ, who calls Himself a king (John xviii. 27), styles Himself also the good shepherd (John x. 14), and calls the Church His flock (John x. 16) and His fold.

St. Peter is charged and empowered, not by the Church, but by Christ Himself, to feed the whole flock, sheep and lambs. He is appointed pastor, without any limitation, and is, therefore, to be the visible pastor of all whose invisible Pastor is Christ Himself. Though the other apostles, as the rapid growth of the Church required, and their extraordinary power entitled them, also extended their care to the whole flock, yet it remains true that greater power was given to Peter than to them, since he was placed at their head.

4. The supremacy of Peter is further proved by the various distinctions conferred upon him by Our Lord. To him alone He gave a name bearing upon the constitution of the Church: to him alone He promised that he should be a fisher of men (Luke v. 10); for Peter as well as for Himself He causes the tribute to be paid (Matt. xvii. 26); Peter was the first whose feet He washed at the last supper (John xiii. 6); He appeared to Peter in particular after the resurrection (Luke xxiv. 31); He foretold Peter that he would die the death of a martyr (John xxi. 19); He made Peter the stay of his brethren, saying: "I have prayed for thee that thy fa.th fail

not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren" (Luke xxii. 32).

These repeated honors conferred on St. Peter made the apostles suspect that there would be a distinction of rank in the kingdom of Christ. Hence their strife for precedence (Matt. xviii. 1; xx. 23). Christ confirms them in their opinion, and only directs their attention to the virtue which should characterize a leader, viz., that he should be the servant of all (Luke xxii. 24, 25).

5. After Our Lord's ascension we find Peter acting as the head of the Church. Even before the descent of the Holy Ghost, "Peter, rising up in the midst of the brethren" (Acts i. 15), proposed that another be elected in the place of Judas, to complete the number of the apostles. Peter was the first to preach the gospel on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii). Peter was instructed by a vision that the time was come to preach the gospel to the gentiles; he it was who admitted the first converts from among them into the Church; he was the interpreter of the divine will to his brethren in behalf of the gentiles (Acts x., xi). In the council of the apostles at Jerusalem, Peter was the first to give his opinion, to which the other apostles submitted (Acts xv.). St. Paul himself, after his sojourn in Arabia, repaired to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days (Gal. i. 18). Peter is always mentioned in the first place by the evangelists when enumerating the apostles, although he was neither the first called, nor the oldest, nor the one most dear to Our Lord. He is, moreover, expressly called the first: “The names of the twelve apostles are these: The first Simon, who is called Peter" (Matt. x. 2). Nor is he called the first only numerically; for the others are not numbered. The meaning is, therefore, that he is first in rank and dignity.

When St. Paul says that he "withstood Cephas [who is commonly understood to be Peter] to the face" (Gal. ii. 11 sq.), he manifestly supposes the latter's superiority; for there would hardly be any reason for recording this particular circumstance if Cephas was only his equal. Hence St. Hilary, commenting on this passage, admires the humility of St. Peter on this occasion, who, though the first of the apostles, was silent, when he might have asserted his supreme authority."

II. That Christ made St. Peter supreme head of His Church has been always held as the unquestioned teaching of the Church. The Greek as well as the Latin fathers call him the first, the leader, the chief, the head of the apostles. Without attempting here to establish a detailed evidence, let it suffice to quote the declaration made by the papal legate Philip, before the bishops assembled at the general council of Ephesus: "There is no doubt-nay, it is known to all ages-that St. Peter, the prince and head of the apostles, the pillar of the faith and the foundation of the Catholic Church, received from Our Lord Jesus Christ the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and was invested with the power of binding and loosing; and he still lives and exercises judgment in his successors." This Catholic belief was distinctly defined by the Vatican Council.

"We teach and declare, according to the testimony of the gospel, that the primacy of jurisdiction over the whole Church of God was promised and given to blessed Peter the apostle, immediately and directly by Christ Our Lord. If, therefore, any one assert that the blessed apostle Peter was not constituted by Christ Our Lord prince of all the apostles and visible head of the entire Church militant, or that he did not receive a primacy not only of honor, but also of true jurisdiction, directly and immediately from Our Lord Jesus Christ; let him be anathema."

45. The end of St. Peter's primacy was the perfect unity of the Church, and the intimate union of its members.

In every society the object of supreme power, whether it be vested in one or in several, is essentially to unite all the members in one body, to urge them to the fulfilment of their duties, and thus to effect the unity of the social body, and to promote the union of its members. To give the Church a more perfect organic unity, and to promote its unity of action, Christ wished it to be governed by one head, in whom the supreme power was to be vested.

1. That Christ established the primacy in His Church for the purpose of securing greater unity we may justly conclude from the very fact itself. For Christ actually conferred this. power on one; and the fact that He did so gave greater unity to the Church; for it is manifest that the unity of a society is greater if the supreme power is vested in one than if it were vested in several. For every society is a moral person

composed of head and members. If, then, the chien power reside in one, the society possesses physically one head, whereas if this power is divided among several the head is only morally one; and, consequently, its unity is less conspicuous and less perfect.

Moreover, unity of action and the union of the members with one another is more effectually promoted if the supreme power be vested in one person only; for thus dissensions are more easily avoided; the direction is more systematic and the execution more prompt; for there exists no difference of opinion, such as must needs arise when the supreme power is divided. Therefore St. Jerome (adv. Jovin. I. 26) rightly remarks that the Church was founded on Peter, and that one was chosen from the twelve to cut off all occasion of dissensions by the appointment of one supreme head. St. Cyprian had already called attention to the same fact (Ep. 70 ad. Januar. et al.).

Of course God could have obviated the difficulties by supernatural means; but since grace and nature are always in harmony, and grace supposes and supplements nature, it was in keeping with the divine wisdom to give the Church that form which, even from a natural point of view, was best suited to its supernatural end.

2. The Church after Our Lord's departure was to continue the mission which He began when He visibly sojourned among His disciples. Now, Christ on earth was doubtless the visible head of the little community which clustered around Him. But as the former visible head of the Church He would have been but imperfectly represented if, after His death, the supreme power had been vested not in one, but in several subjects.

Christ, moreover, after His departure from this earth remained the invisible head and pastor of the faithful (1 Peter ii. 35), while He was to be visibly represented by the authority established in His Church. But Christ as the one invisible head would be but unfittingly and imperfectly represented if the supreme power were vested not in one, but in several visible heads.

3. This perfect oneness of its visible head best correspon

with the idea of the Church presented to us under different figures by Christ and the apostles. The Church is a sheepfold (John x. 1); but in one fold there is but one shepherd. The Church is a house (1 Tim. iii. 15); but one is the master of a house. The Church is a ship (1 Pet. iii. 20); but a ship has but one pilot. The Church is Christ's visible body (1 Cor. xii.; Eph. v. 30); but a body has but one head.

46. The primacy of St. Peter in the Church will endure forever.

From the idea of the Church as a moral body must be inferred that the primacy conferred on Peter was not to cease with his death, but to pass to his successors. For, since such a moral body does not die, but continues to live by the incorporation of new members, the office of any member of such a body does not cease with his demise, but is transmitted to his successor. But the perpetuity of the primacy may be demonstrated also by special proofs.

1. According to Christ's intention, the power and constitution of the Church were to last forever (43); consequently, the primacy also will endure if it belongs to the constitution of the Church. But that it does belong to the constitution of the Church is beyond a doubt. For, evident as are the proofs that Christ has given His Church authority, and made the apostles the subjects thereof, no less strong are the evidences of the existence in the Church of a primacy, i.e., of a special superior power conferred on St. Peter. If the mission and the authority of the apostles are evidently contained in the words addressed to them all collectively (Matt. xxviii. 20), the authority given exclusively to Peter is no less clearly conveyed in the words spoken to him personally (Matt. xvi. 16–19; John xxi. 15–17). Again, if we rightly conclude from the words addressed to the apostles collectively, promising them the divine assistance to the consummation of the world, that they were to continue in their successors, we must likewise conclude from the same words that Peter, as their head, is to continue in his successors to the end of time; since Christ addressed those words to Peter as well as to the other apostles, and addressed him as the head of His entire flock just as He addressed the apostles as the preachers of His gospe!