Ask an Orthodox Christian about the pope and you will often hear that he is "first among equals": honored, but not the head of the Church. Is that what Christ gave St. Peter and what the early Church believed?
Short answer: No. Rome's primacy was never honor alone. Christ gave St. Peter alone the keys, the charge to strengthen his brothers, and the command to feed His whole flock, and in the first millennium Rome corrected other churches and heard appeals from the East, while the overwhelmingly Eastern Council of Chalcedon hailed its bishop as the voice of St. Peter. The Catholic Church teaches that the bishop of Rome, as St. Peter's successor, holds a true primacy of jurisdiction over the whole Church, given by Christ, not by the honor of a city.
Key verses on St. Peter's office
- "you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18)
- "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 16:19)
- "I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:32)
- "Feed my sheep." (John 21:17)
- "After much debate had taken place, Peter got up and said to them" (Acts 15:7)
Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
What the Orthodox Believe
The Orthodox do not deny that Rome was first, only that first meant ruling. Fr. Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church in America, writing on the 2007 Ravenna meeting, puts the consensus this way: "There is, and always has been, an Orthodox consensus that the bishop of Rome holds a primacy of honor," which he describes as "a primacy of honor among all the patriarchs and bishops of the Christian West and the Christian East," and which holds only when there is no schism. He states the key principle: "For the Orthodox, unity comes before primacy." And he notes: "The more definite the claims for papal authority became, the less inclined were the Eastern Churches to accept these claims" (OCA, "Primacy theme of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue").
The Moscow Patriarchate's 2013 position paper states it more sharply. Primacy in the universal Church is "the primacy of honour by its very nature, rather than that of power." It grants that "In the first millennium of church history, the primacy of honour used to belong to the chair of Rome," and says this passed to Constantinople after the break of the eleventh century. Within each local Church the primate holds "the power of the first among equal bishops," and "the Church of Rome is one of the autocephalous Local Churches with no right to extend her jurisdiction" to other Local Churches ("Position of the Moscow Patriarchate on the problem of primacy in the Universal Church").
Behind this stands a principle the Orthodox rightly treasure: conciliarity. The 34th Apostolic Canon, quoted in the joint Ravenna Document, says the bishops of each province "must recognize the one who is first (protos) amongst them," but "the first (protos) cannot do anything without the consent of all" (Ravenna 24). On this view a reunited Church's pope would be a senior brother who presides, not a head with power over other churches.
What Catholics Actually Teach
At Ravenna the joint Catholic-Orthodox commission stated that "Both sides agree that this canonical taxis was recognised by all in the era of the undivided Church," that Rome is the Church that "presides in love," and that "the bishop of Rome was therefore the protos among the patriarchs." But: "They disagree, however, on the interpretation of the historical evidence from this era" (Ravenna 41). Ravenna is a study document, not magisterial teaching. The question is what kind of first.
The Catholic Church answers plainly: Christ "constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter" (CCC 880). The pope "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful." "For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered" (CCC 882). And the college of bishops "has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff" (CCC 883).
This is defined dogma. The First Vatican Council teaches "that, by divine ordinance, the Roman church possesses a pre-eminence of ordinary power over every other church," and it renews "the definition of the ecumenical council of Florence." Its canon answers this article's question directly: "if anyone says that the Roman pontiff has merely an office of supervision and guidance, and not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole church, and this not only in matters of faith and morals, but also in those which concern the discipline and government of the church dispersed throughout the whole world ... let him be anathema" (Pastor Aeternus, ch. 3). A primacy of honor without jurisdiction is exactly what the Council rejects.
What Catholics do not teach:
- That bishops are the pope's delegates. Their power "is proper, ordinary, and immediate," and "the bishops should not be thought of as vicars of the Pope" (CCC 895).
- That reunion means Latinization. The Council of Florence decreed that the patriarchs keep their order, "without prejudice to all their privileges and rights" (Florence, Session 6). The Eastern Catholic Churches live this today (see Are Eastern Catholic Churches Really Catholic?).
- That primacy means domination. "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them ... but among you it shall not be so" (Luke 22:25–26).
The Orthodox Churches are true particular Churches with valid sacraments, so close that "it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord's Eucharist" (CCC 838). But "little" is not nothing. "The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care," and "it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation," that the fullness of the means of salvation is found (CCC 816). Communion with St. Peter's successor is part of that fullness.
It all points to Christ. The pope's power is not his own. He holds it "by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ" (CCC 882): Jesus builds the Church, Jesus gives the keys, Jesus prays for St. Peter's faith, and Jesus tells him whose sheep he feeds: "Feed my sheep." The papacy exists so that the one flock stays with its one Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
The Biblical Case
1. One man receives the keys
After St. Peter confesses, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God," Jesus answers him alone: "you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ... I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:16–19).
The Orthodox rightly point out that binding and loosing is later given to all the apostles: "whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 18:18). The apostles share real authority, as every bishop does. But the keys are given to St. Peter alone, and keys are not a title of honor. In Isaiah, God takes the royal steward's office from Shebna and gives it to Eliakim: "I will clothe him with your robe, gird him with your sash, confer on him your authority ... I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one will shut, what he shuts, no one will open" (Isaiah 22:20–22). The key means authority over the house, held in an office that passes to a successor.
2. One man is charged to strengthen the rest
When the apostles argue about who is greatest, Jesus defines leadership rather than abolishing it: "let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant" (Luke 22:24–26). Then He turns to one man: "Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:31–32). "All of you" are sifted; St. Peter's faith is prayed for, so that he can steady the rest. That is a shepherd of shepherds. Pope St. Agatho, in the letter read at the Sixth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople III, 680–681), read Christ's prayer exactly this way: because the Lord promised that St. Peter's "faith fail not," "the Apostolic pontiffs, the predecessors of my littleness, have always confidently done this very thing" (Letter to the Emperor).
3. One man is told to feed the whole flock
Three times the risen Lord asks, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Three times He commissions him: "Feed my lambs," "Tend my sheep," "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15–17). The whole flock is Christ's, and no limit is set.
4. One man settles the debate
At the Council of Jerusalem, "The apostles and the presbyters met together." That is conciliarity, and Catholics affirm it. But notice what happens: "After much debate had taken place, Peter got up," reminding them that God chose "that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe." When he finishes, "The whole assembly fell silent" (Acts 15:6–12). The council then decides together: "It is the decision of the holy Spirit and of us" (Acts 15:28). Primacy and conciliarity work together, and St. Peter's word turns the council.
Objections Answered
(a) "Rome was first only because it was the imperial capital."
At its strongest: Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon (451) says: "For the Fathers rightly granted privileges to the throne of old Rome, because it was the royal city," and the council gave "equal privileges" to Constantinople, New Rome (Chalcedon, canon 28). If Rome's rank came from the empire, it was honor and order, and could move with the empire.
Answer: We concede the text: canon 28 says that, and the East kept it. But Rome refused it. Pope St. Leo the Great wrote to Empress Pulcheria that he would not recognize "the bishops' assents, which are opposed to the regulations of the holy canons composed at Nicæa," and "by the blessed Apostle Peter's authority we absolutely dis-annul in comprehensive terms" (Letter 105, 3). St. Leo appealed to the canons of Nicaea and to St. Peter, not to the rank of an imperial city. And the council itself had asked him to approve its decisions: it begged him "to accept as your own wish" what it had done and to "honour our decision by your assent" (Letter 98, 4). A council does not ask an honorary chairman to ratify its canons.
(b) "Conciliarity means the first can do nothing without the others."
At its strongest: Apostolic Canon 34 says "the first (protos) cannot do anything without the consent of all" (Ravenna 24). The Church is governed by councils, as in Acts 15. A pope who can act alone over all churches turns a communion into a monarchy.
Answer: Read the whole canon as Ravenna quotes it: the bishops "must recognize the one who is first (protos) amongst them." The same canon binds both ways. Catholic teaching keeps both sides: the college of bishops holds supreme authority, but it "has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff" (CCC 883), and the bishops' own power is "proper, ordinary, and immediate" (CCC 895). At Chalcedon the bishops heard Pope St. Leo's Tome read and cried, "This is the faith of the fathers ... Peter has spoken thus through Leo" (Chalcedon, Session II). Then they wrote to him that he had presided over them, through his legates, "as the head to the members" (Letter 98, 1). That is conciliarity with a head, as in Acts 15. The Sixth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople III, 680–681), an Eastern council, went further. In its letter to Pope St. Agatho, the bishops acknowledged that his letter "was divinely written ... as by the Chief of the Apostles," confessed that they had been "instructed by your doctrine," left what must be done to him "as to the bishop of the first see of the Universal Church," and asked him "to confirm our decree by your honourable rescript" (Letter of the Council to St. Agatho). That is a council submitting its work to St. Peter's successor, not to a first among equals. (The same council condemned Pope Honorius; see Pope Honorius: Did a Pope Teach Heresy?)
(c) "Rome's interventions were rare, and Rome had no canonical authority over the East."
At its strongest: The joint Chieti Document (2016) states: "Appeals to the bishop of Rome from the East expressed the communion of the Church, but the bishop of Rome did not exercise canonical authority over the churches of the East." It adds that appeals "were also made to the see of Constantinople, and to other sees" (Chieti 19).
Answer: We grant that Eastern patriarchs governed their own churches and Rome usually intervened only in crises. But the same paragraph notes that "Sardica was received at the Council in Trullo (692)." The East received these canons into its own canon law. Read them (Latin text; the Greek differs in wording). To "honour the memory of St. Peter the Apostle," a deposed bishop may appeal to Rome, and if the Roman bishop "shall judge that the case should be retried, let that be done, and let him appoint judges" (canon 3). No successor may be ordained "unless the case shall have been determined in the judgment of the Roman bishop" (canon 4). The pope may "send a presbyter a latere," and "it shall be in the power of that bishop to do what he shall resolve and determine upon" (canon 5) (Council of Sardica, canons 3–5). Chieti notes that bishops of the neighbouring province conducted the retrial; granted. But a bishop who can suspend a deposition, order a retrial and appoint the judges has jurisdiction, used often or rarely. Sardica grounds the right in St. Peter, not in an imperial city.
(d) "Pope St. Gregory the Great himself refused the title 'Universal Pope.'"
At its strongest: When St. Eulogius of Alexandria addressed him as "Universal Pope," St. Gregory objected to "a proud appellation, calling me Universal Pope," and wrote: "For if your Holiness calls me Universal Pope, you deny that you are yourself what you call me universally" (Book VIII, Letter 30). This is first among equals in a pope's own words.
Answer: St. Gregory rejected a title implying he was the only true bishop. Catholics reject that too (CCC 895). The same letter gives his reason: "For my honour is the honour of the universal Church." Vatican I quotes this very line (in its translation, "the honour of the whole church") to show that papal primacy defends the bishops' authority rather than swallowing it (Pastor Aeternus, ch. 3). And the same St. Gregory, writing to Bishop John of Syracuse about the see of Constantinople, asked: "who can doubt that it is subject to the Apostolic See, as both the most pious lord the emperor and our brother the bishop of that city continually acknowledge?" (Book IX, Letter 12). Humility about titles is not denial of authority.
The Early Church Agrees
For the full survey, see Was the Pope's Primacy Recognized in the First Millennium? Here the question is: honor, or authority?
- Pope St. Clement I (St. Clement of Rome), Letter to the Corinthians (c. AD 96). Traditionally attributed to St. Clement, the Roman church's letter intervenes in Corinth's schism and expects obedience: those "disobedient unto the words spoken by Him through us" will "entangle themselves in no slight transgression and danger" (ch. 59). Rome sent envoys "who shall also be witnesses between you and us," and asked the Corinthians to "render obedience unto the things written by us through the Holy Spirit" (ch. 63) (Lightfoot translation).
- St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Romans, salutation (c. AD 110). The Roman Church is the one "which also presides in the place of the region of the Romans" and "which presides over love." He adds, "You have taught others" (ch. 3) (newadvent.org). This alone does not prove jurisdiction, but no other church receives such a greeting from him.
- St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.3.2 (c. AD 180). The Church "founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul" is the measure: "For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent authority" (newadvent.org).
- Pope St. Victor I and the Quartodecimans (c. AD 190), reported by Eusebius, Church History 5.24. St. Victor "immediately attempted to cut off from the common unity the parishes of all Asia" and "declared all the brethren there wholly excommunicate." Eusebius notes that words of other bishops were extant "sharply rebuking Victor," and that St. Irenaeus "fittingly admonishes Victor that he should not cut off whole churches of God which observed the tradition of an ancient custom" (ccel.org). We concede the rebuke. But in Eusebius's account the bishops object to the severity of his action, not to his standing to act toward Asia; they plead with him to use his authority differently.
- Pope St. Julius I to the Eusebian bishops (c. AD 341), preserved by St. Athanasius, Apologia contra Arianos 35. On the deposition of St. Athanasius of Alexandria: "Are you ignorant that the custom has been for word to be written first to us, and then for a just decision to be passed from this place?" He grounds it in St. Peter: "For what we have received from the blessed Apostle Peter, that I signify to you" (st-takla.org, NPNF).
- The Formula of Pope St. Hormisdas (AD 519). To end the Acacian schism, Eastern bishops signed a profession declaring that "in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been kept unsullied" (Catholic Dictionary, "Hormisdas, Formula of"). At Constantinople on 28 March 519, "the Patriarch John accepted the formula of Hormisdas," and "The greater number of the Eastern and Greek bishops approved and signed the formula of Hormisdas" (Catholic Encyclopedia, "Pope St. Hormisdas"). We grant that Emperor Justin I sought the reunion and that not every Eastern bishop signed. Still, the Patriarch of Constantinople and most Eastern bishops signed that Rome's faith is the standard of communion. That is not a primacy of honor.
- Pope St. Agatho and the Third Council of Constantinople (AD 680–681). In the letter read at the Sixth Ecumenical Council, Pope St. Agatho wrote that the Apostolic Church of St. Peter "has never erred from the path of the apostolic tradition" and "remains undefiled unto the end, according to the divine promise of the Lord and Saviour himself" (newadvent.org). The bishops, meeting in Constantinople, told the emperor, "Peter spoke through Agatho" (ccel.org).
Conclusion
"First among equals" is half true. The pope is a bishop among bishops, and the Catholic Church honors every bishop's own authority. But Scripture shows one apostle with the keys, one charged to strengthen the rest, one told to feed the whole flock, and the first millennium shows his see correcting Corinth, judging appeals from Alexandria, ratifying councils, and setting the standard of communion for Eastern bishops. Honor does not do those things. Jurisdiction does.
The Orthodox are right that the first must not lord it over his brothers; Christ said so. But the same Christ gave the keys to one man and prayed for his faith, so that he could strengthen his brothers. For the history of how East and West parted, see What Caused the Great Schism of 1054?
Come home. The bishop of Rome is not an honorary chairman but St. Peter's successor, the visible head Christ gave His Church, and communion with him is the mark of the Catholic Church. You already possess true sacraments and much of the apostolic faith, in "a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church" (CCC 838). Those gifts draw their power "from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church" and "are in themselves calls to 'Catholic unity'" (CCC 819). The Eucharist is the sacrament of the Church's unity, yet your true Eucharist is celebrated apart from the successor of St. Peter, on whom Christ built His Church (Matthew 16:18). We invite you into full communion with St. Peter's successor, the bishop of Rome, in the Catholic Church.
Your next step: Come to Mass or Divine Liturgy at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. When you're ready, call the parish office and ask to speak with the priest about entering full communion with the Catholic Church. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.
FAQ
What does "first among equals" mean? In Orthodox usage, a primate who ranks first and presides but holds no jurisdiction over other churches; the Moscow Patriarchate calls universal primacy "the primacy of honour by its very nature, rather than that of power." The Catholic Church holds that the pope is a bishop like the others in sacramental order, but as St. Peter's successor has "full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church" (CCC 882).
Do Catholic bishops just carry out the pope's orders? No. Their authority comes from Christ through their ordination and is "proper, ordinary, and immediate"; they "should not be thought of as vicars of the Pope" (CCC 895). The pope keeps them in one communion and defends their authority rather than replacing it.
Would the Orthodox have to give up their traditions to reunite? No. Florence kept the patriarchs' order "without prejudice to all their privileges and rights," and the Eastern Catholic Churches keep their liturgies and traditions in full communion with Rome. Reunion asks for one faith and communion with St. Peter's successor, not a Latin rite.
Sources
Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): Isaiah 22:20–22; Matthew 16:16–19; Matthew 18:18; Luke 22:24–32; John 21:15–17; Acts 15:6–12, 28.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 816, 819, 838; 880, 882, 883, 895.
Church documents: Council of Florence, Session 6 (1439), Laetentur Caeli (EWTN Library); First Vatican Council (1870), Pastor Aeternus, ch. 3 (papalencyclicals.net); Formula of Hormisdas (519), Catholic Dictionary (catholicculture.org); Catholic Encyclopedia, "Pope St. Hormisdas".
Catholic-Orthodox dialogue (christianunity.va): Ravenna Document (2007), 24, 41; Chieti Document (2016), 19.
Church Fathers and councils: Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians 59, 63 (Lightfoot, earlychristianwritings.com); Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Romans; Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.2; Eusebius, Church History 5.24 (ccel.org); Athanasius, Apologia contra Arianos 35 (letter of Julius; st-takla.org, NPNF); Council of Sardica, canons 3–5; Council of Chalcedon, Session II and canon 28 (sacred-texts.com, NPNF); Leo the Great, Letter 98 (Chalcedon to Leo) and Letter 105; Gregory the Great, Book VIII, Letter 30 and Book IX, Letter 12; Pope St. Agatho, Letter to the Emperor (read at Constantinople III); Third Council of Constantinople, Prosphoneticus to the Emperor and Letter of the Council to St. Agatho (ccel.org; sacred-texts.com, NPNF).
Orthodox sources: Leonid Kishkovsky, "Primacy theme of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue" (Orthodox Church in America); "Position of the Moscow Patriarchate on the problem of primacy in the Universal Church" (December 2013, Department for External Church Relations, mospat.ru).