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blazedale

Who was the first Pope?

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Posted by blazedale on Thursday August 28, 2008 at 2:20 PM and tagged with catholic, history, pope, religion.

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  1. katemschultz Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Simon Peter, later known as St. Peter, one of Jesus' apostles, was the first Pope.

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    Posted by katemschultz on Thursday August 28, 2008 at 2:26 PM

  2. pmiranda2857
    pmiranda2857 Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The first head of the Catholic Church, technically, was St. Peter.  When Jesus passed the keys of the kingdom to Peter, he became the first Pope, even though the title of Pope did not yet exist. 

    But, according to Catholic teaching, all Popes are successors of St. Peter, the foundation of the Church as so declared by Jesus.

    "In Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus states: " And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  (Catholic Bible)

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    Posted by pmiranda2857 on Thursday August 28, 2008 at 2:29 PM

  3. lit24
    lit24 Teacher
    Doctorate

    eNotes Editor

    The Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic  church.

    Doctrinally the pope is regarded as the spiritual successor of the apostle St.Peter the first pope: In Matthew 16: 18-19 Jesus says "and I say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church." However it took  more than a thousand years for papacy as we know it today to be formally institutionalised. 

    Historically speaking pope Pius I (142-155) was the first single bishop presiding over the diocese of Rome.

    Gradually the power and the influence of the  of the pope increased as the later popes  involved themselves in temporal and political matters: In 452 AD it was pope Leo I who went outside Rome and met Atilla the Hun and convinced him to withdraw his forces. In 800 AD pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor.

    But it was only under pope Gregory VII who was elected in 1073 that the pope virtually became a monarch. Historians treat the period of pope Gregory's rule as the apex of the papacy.

    Needless to say, the instituion of papacy and the role of the pope is constantly changing and evolving, for in history only change is constant.

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    Posted by lit24 on Thursday August 28, 2008 at 4:28 PM

  4. kinghawke
    kinghawke Student
    College - Sophomore

    According to the Roman Catholic Church, the Apostle Peter was the first Pope. although, the office of Pope cannot be found in the Bible if you use the Bible in context and using the rule of Definition.

    Sources:
    http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5358
    http://www.gotquestions.org/Peter-first-pope.html
    http://www.nndb.com/gov/246/000087982/

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    Posted by kinghawke on Tuesday November 3, 2009 at 7:03 PM

  5. spralph
    spralph

    St. Peter the appostle

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    Posted by spralph on Tuesday November 10, 2009 at 3:40 AM