Recently, a hoopla arose on the social media concerning the Catholic Church, the life and death of Apostle Peter, etc. Here, I will attempt to answer a few of the questions.

Is the Catholic Church Apostolic? The Bible, Church history and the writings of the Church Fathers who succeeded the Apostles all say “YES”. 

The quote: “Where the Bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church” comes from the letter of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, to the Church in Smyrna around 69 AD, is the earliest known use of the term “Catholic” to describe the Church. By “Katholicos” or Catholic he meant universal. Ignatius was a friend of St. Polycarp who was a disciple of Apostle John, the Beloved. And those who doubt the primacy of Rome in the early Church should note that the Bishop of Rome, Pope Anicetus invited Polycarp to Rome by AD 150, at age 80, to discuss the right time for Easter celebration. The primacy of Rome was already recognized by then.

Here’s an example of Apostolic succession: Apostle John handed over to Polycarp who taught Irenaeus who went on to become Bishop of Lugdunum, now Lyon, France. And France is in the West, not East!  Now, this is important because Irenaeus (120-220 AD) was a Greek Bishop who, in his book, Adversus Haereses or Against Heresies, countered false teachings like Gnosticism and offered three pillars of orthodoxy – the scriptures, the tradition handed down by the Apostles, and the teachings of the Apostolic successors. Apostolic Authority: Writing against the Gnostics, who claimed secret knowledge from Christ

Himself, Irenaeus said that the true Bishops in different cities have been known from the Apostolic times.

Now, many have ignorantly stated that Rome didn’t gain prominence in the early Church until Emperor Constantine became Roman Emperor.

Wrong!  Irenaeus took part in the Quartodecimen Controversy. When Pope Victor I tried to force a universal practice of fasting until Easter to supersede the Jewish practice and prevent Christians from partaking in Passover, Polycrates, leader of Asia Minor Churches preferred the old traditions. Pope Victor I, wanted to excommunicate Polycrates and his supporters, but Irenaeus and some other Bishops dissuaded him.

Pope (St) Victor I, the first African (“Roman Berber” from North Africa) Bishop of Rome or Pope (meaning Papa) from 189 to 199 AD, was the first Pope to celebrate Mass in Latin instead of Greek, anddecreed that Easter be celebrated on Sunday, now a common practice.

WAS APOSTLE PETER IN ROME? From the Encyclopedia Britannica comes this: “The absence of any reference in Acts or Romans to a residence of Peter in Rome gives pause but is not conclusive. If Peter did write 1 Peter, the mention of “Babylon” in 5:13 (“She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark”) is fairly reliable evidence that Peter resided at some time in the capital city. If Peter was not the author of the first epistle that bears his name, the presence of this cryptic reference witnesses to at least a tradition of the late 1st or 2nd century. Babylon is a cryptic term indicating Rome, and it is the understanding utilized in Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 6 and in the world of various Jewish seers. It may be said that by the end of the 1st century there existed a tradition that Peter had lived in Rome. Further early evidence is found in the Letter to the Romans by St. Ignatius, the early 2nd century Bishop of Antioch. Words of John 21: 18, 19 clearly refer to the death of Peter. The author of this chapter is aware of a tradition concerning the martyrdom of Peter when the Apostle was an old man. And there is a possible reference here to crucifixion as the manner of his death.

“The strongest evidence to support the thesis that Peter was martyred in Rome is to be found in the Letter to the Corinthians (c.96 AD; 5:1-64) of St. Clement of Rome: “Peter, by the reason of wicked jealousy, not only once or twice but frequently endured suffering and thus, bearing his witness, went to the glorious place which he merited (5:4)….To these men (Peter and Paul) who lived such holy lives there was joined a great multitude of the election who by reason of rivalry  were victims of many outrages and tortures and who became outstanding examples among us (6:1).

These sources, plus the suggestions and implications of later works, combine to lead many scholars to accept Rome as the location of the martyrdom and the reign of Nero as the time”.

So, apart from the Bible, are there other sources of church history? Yes, we have the writings of the leaders of the early Church. The writings of Clement of Rome (he was converted and baptized by Apostle

Peter), Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr who wrote by 150 AD and Irenaeus. Then, their successors also wrote letters and books…thus leaving for us historical records.

Now, who was Clement of Rome, for instance? Tertullian said Clement was ordained by Apostle Peter. Eusebius in his book, Church History, called him the third Bishop of Rome or Pope and as the co-labourer of St Paul mentioned in the Bible in Paul’s Letter to the Philippines, 4:3. A large congregation existed in Rome c. 58 AD when Paul wrote his letter to the Romans. Paul arrived in Rome two years later in 60 AD.

Clement was the first of Rome’s most notable Bishops or Popes. The Liber Ponitificalis, which documents the history of the Popes, states that Clement had known Apostle Peter. Irenaeus called Clement the 3rd Bishop of Rome and a personal acquaintance of the Apostles. 

Tertullian in 200 AD wrote that Peter suffered a passion in Rome: “How happy is the Church …where Peter endured a passion like that of our Lord, where Paul was crowned in a death like John’s” (John the Baptist). He added: “This is the way Apostolic Churches transmit their lists: like the Smyrnaens, which records that Polycarp was ordained by John; like the Church of the Romans, where Clement was  ordained by Peter”. If Peter didn’t die in Rome a Church Father would have risen up to condemn the claims as errors.

So, what’s the controversy about? Flourishing ignorance or worse; prideful deliberate falsehood and deceit. Finish!