The House of Peter

 Icon of St. Peter, Mount Sinai (7th c.)

"If anyone says that the Roman Pontiff has merely an office of supervision and guidance, and not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole Church, and this not only in matters of faith and morals, but also in those which concern the discipline and government of the Church dispersed throughout the whole world; or that he has only the principal part, but not the absolute fullness, of this supreme power; or that this power of his is not ordinary and immediate both over all and each of the Churches and over all and each of the pastors and faithful: let him be anathema" (Vatican I, Session IV, 3.9).

Above all else, the schisms in the Church rest on the view of St. Peter's authority.  As Yves Congar wrote, "Depending upon the dogmatic and canonical reality of non-submission to, or acceptance of, the Head, the schism is made or abolished at a single blow" (90).  Though theological debates play a role in the discussion of schisms, I think the key to schism is the authority of St. Peter.  If one trusts in the authority God gave to St. Peter and his successors, then one must never fear a falsehood regarding faith or morals to ever be decreed by him.

I will not spend time performing exegesis on Mt 16 and the promise of Peter as the Rock: countless more qualified theologians than I have done so.  There seem to be two main interpretations: either Christ decreed that Peter and his successors would be the guarantors of the faith, or Peter just has a "primacy of honor," and the bishops are the guarantors of the faith.  The biggest question I have is this: what happens if the bishops are arguing with each other?  Who has the true faith?

This downfall of a purely episcopal and collegial authority can be seen throughout history.  When the Protestants take this view, that it is the Holy Spirit guiding the entire Church through the people, thousands (I know that's too low) of denominations result.  When the Orthodox take this view, it leads to schisms like the New Calendarists vs. the Old Calendarists, or the Old Believers vs. the Church as reformed by Patriarch Nikon.  When those claiming to be Catholic take this view, it leads to schismatics like Old Catholics and the Society of St. Pius X.  If the man decreed by Christ to have authority is wrong, who do we turn to?

Icon of St. Peter, Urumieh Museum

Demetrios Kydones, a 14th-century Byzantine lay theologian who converted to Catholicism, writes thus in his Apologia for His Conversion:

"Would not every matter of faith have to end with a question mark if there indeed be no final seat of authority in the Church? There can be no certitude anywhere, if no one is worthy of credibility. Then we are no longer talking about the religion which St. Paul described as one; rather there will be as many religions as there are leaders, or better still, none at all! Every believer will suspect everyone else and will proceed to pick and choose whatever beliefs suit him. Then, as in a battle fought in the dark, we will be striking at our friends, and they at us" (39).

 How do we choose who keeps the true faith if Christ does not tell us?  There are countless views on what true Christianity should be (as mentioned, just think of the countless Protestant denominations, many claiming to hold to the one, true Christianity): how terrifying would it be if Christ left us alone to find the truth!  We may search through all the countless brands of Christianity, but if there is none decreed by Christ, how do we know which is the truth?

Christ instituted the Church.  Would He institute an institution that splinters due to countless disagreements, with none of them having a guarantor of truth?  Some Eastern writers seem to imply that the East has more faith than the West, since they trust in the Holy Spirit guiding the entire Church through its members.  But which Church does the Holy Spirit guide?  In the end, there must be one measure of faith, for God is One.  There may be some theologoumena (matters on which differing theological opinions may be held), but there will always be some aspects of the faith that must be true, some that must be held.  This is the whole concept behind the Creed of the first two Ecumenical Councils.  And what is included in that Creed?  "I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church."

 St. Peter Raises Tabitha from the Dead, San Vitale Church, Ravenna (early 6th c.)

In the East, the view is often held that the Church is connected by the Holy Spirit: it is an invisible connection among the different Churches.  Yet would Christ leave His Church so invisible?  Christ gave us the Sacraments, the Mysteries, visible institutions that give us grace.  Christ Himself became visible for us and continues to be in the Sacred Mysteries of His Body and Blood.  If Christ makes even Himself visible, would He not make the Church visible as well?  As D. Purcell writes regarding Eastern ecclesiology,

"As a result of this tendency to attribute solely to the Soul of the Church what pertains also the visible juridic structure, the aspect of the Church as a theophany, in this teaching, is so excessively stressed, that the visible bonds of unity uniting the members of the Church to her Uncreated Soul through the juridico-social constitution of the Body of Christ, are, in reality, disregarded" (qtd. 85).

 As Ven. Pope Pius XII wrote in his encyclical Mystici Corporis,

"But it is not enough that the body of the Church should be an unbroken unity; it must also be something definite and perceptible to the senses as Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, in his Encyclical Satis Cognitum asserts: 'the Church is visible because she is a body.' Hence they err in a matter of divine truth, who imagine the Church to be invisible, intangible, a something merely 'pneumatological' as they say, by which many Christian communities, though they differ from each other in their profession of faith, are united by an invisible bond" (§14).

 I know the last quote will quite possibly be rejected by those not in communion with Rome merely for its source being the Pontiff.  The words of the Pope are correct, though: the Church needs both visible and invisible unity.  Just as the Eucharist has a visible element (the bread and wine) and an invisible element (the Body and Blood of Our Lord), so must the Church.

The Church must be one, and it must be led, in the end, by one leader.  A group of bishops, however holy, can disagree deeply.  As Demetrios Kydones wrote, though, "It is simply not possible that a principle of government not immune to schism from within can become the principle of unity for others" (41).

 Icon of the Liberation of St. Peter

Christ gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom, and Christ declared Peter the Rock of the Church, against whom the powers of hell fall flat.  The Church is the house of Peter, a large house, large enough for all the world, if they desire.  The doors of Peter's house are open.  Those who come to see the truth of the Church may enter freely: those who return to the Church may enter freely.  However, those who do not believe can also walk out, many for disobeying the fundamental rule of Peter's house: Peter is the Vicar of Christ.  We believe in Peter's decisions in faith and morals because they are vouchsafed by Christ: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven" (Mt 16:18-19). 

In the end, all of Christian unity revolves around this: accepting the head Christ gave to the Church.  To reject Peter's authority is to reject Christ's authority, for it is Christ Who gave Peter his authority: thus Peter is the Vicar of Christ on earth.  As Humbert of Romans, a Dominican from the time of the Second Council of Lyons, wrote: "Why do we call the Greeks schismatics rather than the Latins?...It is because they are in rebellion against the Head" (qtd. 79).

Let us, on this great solemnity, invite all to enter the House of Peter and live under the care of him who Christ Himself gave us as leader.

St. Peter, pray for us!

 
Nota Bene: The quotes from Demetrios Kydones and D. Purcell come from James Likoudis' Ending the Byzantine Greek Schism.  The quotes from Yves Congar and Humbert of Romans come from Congar's After Nine Hundred Years: The Background of the Schism Between the Eastern and Western Churches.  The quotes from Vatican I and Ven. Pope Pius XII's Mystici Corporis come from the Faith Database.  I don't claim that my arguments will convert anyone, or that they are even well-argued: indeed, my argumentation is probably atrocious.  I just felt that I must attempt to tell the truth, even if I do so poorly, for it is what Christ wishes.