Papacy

I would like to begin this article with a question: Who is the leader of the Catholic Church? Did you say the Pope? If so, you would be wrong! The Catholic Church is the mystical Body of Christ, therefore, Jesus is its leader. But if that is the case, what role does the Pope have? To answer this question, we must turn first to the Old Testament and the book of the prophet Isaiah.    

 

I shall summon my servant

Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

I shall dress him in your tunic,

I shall put your sash round his waist,

I shall invest him with your authority;

And he shall be a father

To the inhabitants of Jerusalem

And to the House of Judah.

I shall place the key of David’s palace on his shoulder;

When he opens, no one will close,

When he closes, no one will open.

I shall drive him like a nail into a firm place;

And he will become a throne of glory for his family.

(Isa 22:20-23)

 

In its immediate historical context, this prophecy concerns a jobsworth called Shebna who had risen to a position of great power within King Hezekiah's court and how God intended to give his position to a man named Eliakim. What is important for us, however, is the description of the master's symbols of office and of the responsibility that comes with his being master. I am thinking particularly of these lines:
 

I shall place the key of David’s palace on his shoulder;

When he opens, no one will close,

When he closes, no one will open.

 

Read those three lines carefully. Do they sound familiar at all? Think of the key... of the master's power to open and close... still can't think of the answer? Then have a read of this:

 

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said, ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven’.

(Matt 16:13-19)

 

That is why Isaiah is important - Jesus uses the office of master that the prophet describes as the focal point for authority in His 'community' (i.e. Church). Therefore, just as Eliakim would receive a key, so would Peter; just as Eliakim would have the power to open and close, so would Peter. The difference between the two men is that whereas Eliakim's power was temporal, Peter's was spiritual as well as temporal. But what has this to do with the pope? Well, the answer to that question lies in something called the Apostolic Succession.

     As you might know, Jesus appointed twelve Apostles. When they died, their office did not die with them but was inherited by their successors. Equally, when those successors died, the office was inherited again by a second successor. This process of handing on is the Apostolic Succession in action. Thus, our present pope, John Paul II, is the 264th successor of St. Peter. As a result of that, a proper understanding of the pope's role in the Catholic Church must see him - not as the leader of the church - but as its master under the kingship of Jesus.

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