St Peter and the Petrine Ministry

When Ukrainian Archbishop Vsevolod visited Pope John Paul II as part of a delegation on behalf of the Patriarch of Constantinople last year, the Pope did something interesting.

As the Orthodox group walked away from the ecumenically-minded meeting, the Pope turned and asked them to be reminded about the role of the Petrine Ministry in the Church.

What he was referring to, of course, was the primacy of the Pope of Rome.  That he didn't outline exactly what primacy implied was perhaps to his credit.  However, there is little doubt that the exact definition of that role is as the Roman Church sees it.

Contrary to popular belief, the Petrine Ministry or Primacy was not the precipitating factor in the alienation of the Roman Patriarchate from the Orthodox Church.

Indeed, the theology of Sts. Peter and Paul as it related to the government of the Church was a shared theology in both East and West, before AD 1054.

From the very beginning of her existence (i.e. Pentecost), the Orthodox Church has always believed that the Keys of St Peter were given to every member of the Episcopate.

Some Sees, owing to their prestige as Christian Centres, the Apostles having founded their Churches, had primacy over what came to be known as their "jurisdictions."  This was also reflected in the Ecumenical Councils where, among the five Patriarchates, Rome enjoyed a First among Equals status. 

This was only to be had during a Council and no Patriarch or Bishop could interfere with matters of normal jurisdiction in a Diocese or jurisdiction not his own.  

One could ostensibly petition to Rome from another jurisdiction if one felt he or she had been treated unfairly by one's own hierarchy. 

The Primacy of Orthodox Rome also, as the late Rev. Professor John Meyendorff wrote, expressed the unity of the universal Orthodox Church.  That Primacy, after 1054, fell to Constantinople, New Rome, to exercise.

Clearly, the ability to exercise the Petrine Primacy or Ministry depended on the Orthodoxy of one's faith.  In another place, Meyendorff quotes an Orthodox source as saying, "Let the Pope enjoy the benefits of St Peter's primacy, but first let him first show that he confesses the Faith of Peter." 

In the West, as Rome was the only centre where the Church could claim Apostolic beginnings, that See grew in importance and was indeed the "Apostolic See." 

In the East, the Roman argument that St Peter's activity and presence implied a carry-over of his pre-eminence and primacy simply didn't wash. 

After all, St Peter founded the Churches of Antioch and Alexandria, in addition to many other churches in towns and villages throughout the East.

Thus, a more collegial view of St Peter's Keys being held by the entire episcopate was to be constantly maintained and defended by the Orthodox Church.

In addition, Peter's confession of faith was seen by many Eastern Fathers to relate to the Laity or Royal Priesthood.  By confessing Christ as the Son of the Living God, we too "become Peter."

But it was the addition of the "Filioque" to the Creed and the way it altered Triadology (the doctrine of the Trinity) led to all other problems and issues with the Roman Church, including the Papacy.

For example, papal infallibility almost became a "given" within the perspective of the "Filioque" issue.

If the Spirit proceeds from the Son, then, in the view of the Roman Church, the Pope, "Christ's Vicar" could also be seen as having the Spirit proceed from his utterances i.e. infallible pronouncements.

The Popes of Orthodox Rome of the first millennium were highly revered as many of the early Popes were martyrs and teachers of the Church.  

Pope St Felix is one of my favourites.  Running from Roman soldiers, he found a hole in the city walls where he tried to hide.  A spider quickly spun his web across the opening of the hole and so the Romans didn't bother to look inside it.

To his final days, St Felix was personally covered in cobwebs and had spiders crawling near him and all over him.  He never allowed anyone to kill a spider in his presence.  He is the actual patron saint of spiders.  

In the Ukrainian tradition, he is important as such since spiders are considered good luck.  To see one, means that a friend will cross one's path that day.  The angel hair on Christmas trees is an allusion to spider cobwebs as the spiders are said to have covered Christ's crib with them to try and keep him warm! 

The Orthodox Church even includes in its calendar Pope St Liberius who is not so honoured even by his own Church for weakness in affirming the Apostolic faith!

Later, Rome's growing pretensions to universal primacy faced a great test with the condemnation of Pope Honorius as a heretic.  That pope's condemnation was repeated by his successors in the Roman Patriarchate until the twelfth century.  

Now, Rome tries to downplay the heresy of Honorius.  Indeed, by comparison to some of today's "warm and fuzzy" ecumenicists, many of the great heretics of the past appear like harmless theological "pussycats."

It was the disagreement on the Filioque, brought in by the non-Roman theologians of Charlemagne's court, that separated Rome from the Orthodox Church.

A rationalist construction, this new doctrine had no basis either in Scripture or elsewhere.  It could refer to the "sending" of the Spirit by the Son into the world, but not in terms of an Eternal procession. 

St John Damascus in his classic "On the Orthodox Faith," denies that the Spirit proceeds from the Son.  He does affirm that the Spirit could be said to proceed from the Father through the Son, like a flower (the Holy Spirit) blossoming from the roots (the Father) through the stem (the Son).

The end result of the Filioque was to downplay the role of the Spirit in the life of the Western Church that led to an overemphasis on the "this-worldly" aspects of church life and papal power and authority.

The Petrine Ministry and Primacy is therefore integrally related to the Orthodox confession of faith, beginning with the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.  It is exercised by the entire episcopate of the Orthodox Church while certain bishops or patriarchs have a primacy based on the direct Apostolic origins of their Churches and the subsequent role they play in church councils.

The early Popes of Rome of the first millennium of the Church participated in the Petrine Ministry, first and foremost as teachers and confessors of the Orthodox Faith. 

They did not do this to the exclusion of their other fellow bishops and patriarchs, however.  Even Laity "become Peter" when they confess Christ as the Son of the Living God.

Any discussion about the Petrine Ministry and Rome's position with respect to it must begin and end with the all-important subject of the right confession of the "faith of Peter."  And that is the unchangeable faith of the One, Holy, Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church of Christ.

Let us remember that during the Last Supper, Peter himself heard Christ described the Procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father (alone).  No one should presume to try and "improve" on theology that came from such a clear and authoritative Source!

Dr. Alexander Roman  alex@unicorne.org