The Primacy of Peter

By Charles Journet Where Peter is, there is the Church. (Saint Ambrose) Christ made a promise to the Apostle St. Peter: “And I tell thee this in my turn, that thou art Peter, and it is upon this rock that I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” In 1952, the Lutheran theologian Oscan Cullman published his Peter: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr, arguing that Christ granted to St. Peter a personal and temporary position as foundation and deputy-shepherd, and this divine favor entailed no scheme of succession. In 1954, Charles Journet’s response to this first appeared in English. The Primacy of Peter argues that Christ appointed Peter the vicar of His Church on earth, the supreme head with respect to jurisdiction, and this privilege extends perpetually to all his successors. The papacy is an obvious and serious issue separating Protestants and Catholics. In these pages, Journet offers the opportunity to decide between two ways of understanding this mystery; h