ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, O.L.S.M. on March 2, 2001

Dear Mr. Sarcina: Sure no problem. Jesus appoints Peter the first Pope in Matthew 16 when he said to Peter: "You are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church.... and you shall have the keys to the kingdom.....and whatever you bind shall be bound and whatever your loose will be loosed." How do we know this was an appointment of Prime Minister (that is what the Pope is in essence, a Prime Minister. Jesus is King, and the Pope his Prime Minister)? We know this because the keys to the kingdom phrase and the binding and loosening phrase is a quotation from Isaiah 22:19-22. In Isaiah the passage is talking about the succession of the office of Prime Minister. A new Prime Minister was being appointed and the King gave the Prime Minister the KEYS OF THE KINGDOM and gave the Prime Minister the power to bind and loose. The apostles knew EXACTLY what Jesus was talking about. They also knew that God has ALWAYS had a Pope, of sorts, going all the way back to Adam and Eve. Adam was the first Pope figure. Abraham was too. As was Moses. Jesus even mentions the "Chair of Moses" in Matthew 23:2. The Chair refers to the Magisterial authority of God's Prime Minister. In Matthew 16, Jesus is displacing the Chair of Moses, with the Chair of Peter. In addition, the word POPE is in the Bible. If you look at the Isaiah 22 passage you will see that the Prime Minsiter will be "a FATHER to the nation". The word FATHER in English is FATHER. The word Father in Italian is POPA (Pope is just an English transliteration of the Italian word Popa). Thus Father/Popa/Pope is in the Bible. This is ABSOLUTE PROOF from the Bible alone that Peter was the first Prime Minister (Pope). Plus there are many other passages that show the Primacy of Peter such as: Mt 16:18 - upon this rock (Peter) I will build my Church Mt. 16:19 - give you the keys to the kingdom; power to bind and loose Lk 22:32 - Peter's faith will strengthen his brethren Jn 21:17 - given Christ's flock as chief shepherd Mk 6:7 - angel sent to announce Resurerection to Peter Lk 24:34 - risen Jesus first appeared to Peter Acts 1:13-16 - headed meeing which elected Matthias Acts 2:14 - led Apostles in preaching at Pentecost Acts 2:41 - receieved first converts Acts 3:6-7 - performed forst miracle after Pentecost Acts 5:1-11 - inflicted first punishment: Ananias & Saphira Acts 8:21 - excommunicated first heretid, Simon Magnus Acts 10:44-46 - received revelation to admit Gentiles into church Acts 15 - led first council in Jerusalem Acts 15:17 - pronounces first dogmatic decision Gal 1:8 - after conversion, Paul visits chief Apostle Peter always mentioned first: Mt. 10:1-4; Mk 3:16-19; Lk 6:14; Acts 1:13 Spoke for the Apostles: Mt 18:21; Mk 8:29; Lk 12:4c1; Jn 6:69 Plus Peter's name is mentioned 195 times, more than any other Apostles put together It was the FACT of Matthew 16 and Isaiah 22 that converted me from a Baptist preacher to a Catholic. When I saw this, it proved that Peter was the first Pope. Plus we still have documents in existence today of Pope Clement I giving PAPAL orders to the Church in Corinth in around 86 AD. He ordered them to shape up under pain of sin if they disobeyed him. Clement was the Bishop of Rome not the Bishop of Corinth. Thus he could have only had the authority to order the Church at Corinth ONLY if he were Pope -- which he was. Scripture proves the Papacy and History proves the Papcy. Anyone denying that Peter was the first Pope does have their elevator go all the way to the top. They are deluded by prejudice. I was deluded by prejudice until I sat down and really LOOKED at Scripture with a fresh eye.