The
Bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter,
is
heir to the gift of the keys to which
Jesus
refers in Matthew 16:16;
and
the bishops of the world are successors to the Apostles
Matthew 16:15-19
He
said to them, "But who do you say that I am?“ Simon Peter
said
in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Jesus
said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For
flesh and blood has not revealed this
to you, but my heavenly
Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon
this rock
I
will build my church, and the gates of
the netherworld shall not
prevail
against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of
heaven. Whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven;
and
whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
John 16:12-13
"I
have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But
when
he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.”
