# Who Was the First Pope? > The Catechism says Jesus made Peter the rock and that the pope succeeds him. An Orthodox clergy answer says first among equals is not supremacy of jurisdiction. Westminster says Christ is the only head. This page does not decide. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-was-the-first-pope - Religions: Christianity - Denominations: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Reformed - Beliefs: none - Tags: papacy, peter, church - Updated: 2026-10-10 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) Christians who confess the Trinity do not agree on whether Peter was the first pope. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the Lord made Simon alone the rock of his Church and calls the pope Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor. A clergy answer on the Orthodox Church in America site says early councils acknowledge the pope as first among equals and do not treat that honor as supremacy of jurisdiction. The Westminster Confession says there is no head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, and the pope of Rome cannot be head. This page quotes those texts. It does not decide. ## Key points - [Matthew 16:18](/bible/matthew/16/18) says to Peter, “upon this rock I will build my church.” - [Catechism 881](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2A.HTM) says the Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the rock of his Church, and gave him the keys. [(2)](#ref-2) - [Catechism 882](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2A.HTM) calls the pope Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, and says he has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church. [(2)](#ref-2) - Vatican I, in the Denzinger English on clerus.org, says the primacy of jurisdiction was conferred immediately and directly upon Peter, and that whoever succeeds him in this chair holds Peter’s primacy. [(3)](#ref-3) - Irenaeus, in the Ante-Nicene Fathers on New Advent, says Peter and Paul founded the church at Rome and committed the episcopate to Linus. [(4)](#ref-4) - The Orthodox Church in America answer says councils call the pope first among equals and do not envision that primacy of honor as supremacy of jurisdiction. It is a clergy email, not a synod. [(5)](#ref-5) - [Westminster 25.6](https://opc.org/wcf.html) says there is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof. [(7)](#ref-7) ## What the Catechism means by pope The Catechism does not offer a word-origin lesson. [Catechism 882](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2A.HTM) [(2)](#ref-2) names the office: the pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, “is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.” The same paragraph says that by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church, he has “full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.” That is the Catholic claim about the office. [Who Started the Catholic Church?](/christianity/who-started-the-catholic-church) quotes the Catechism on Jesus inaugurating the Church. [Catholic vs Protestant](/christianity/catholic-vs-protestant) sets the same office beside Protestant confessions. The denomination shelves are [Catholic](/catholic), [Eastern Orthodox](/eastern-orthodox), and [Reformed](/reformed). Each one links that body’s own doctrine pages. ## What the Catholic Church says about Peter [Matthew 16:18](/bible/matthew/16/18) says Jesus tells Simon, “thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,” and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The next verse speaks of the keys. The verse page has the King James sentence and the Greek. [Catechism 881](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2A.HTM) [(2)](#ref-2): > The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. The paragraph goes on: he gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. The First Vatican Council’s constitution *Pastor Aeternus* is what the Catechism is summarizing. The Holy See publishes that constitution in Italian. The English quoted here is Denzinger on clerus.org, a third-party host, not a page on vatican.va. [(3)](#ref-3) Denzinger 3053 says the council teaches that, according to the Gospel, “the primacy of jurisdiction over the entire Church of God was promised and was conferred immediately and directly upon the blessed Apostle Peter by Christ the Lord.” Denzinger 3057 says “whoever succeeds Peter in this chair, he according to the institution of Christ himself, holds the primacy of Peter over the whole Church.” Denzinger 3058 is the canon: if anyone says it is not by divine right that Peter has perpetual successors in the primacy over the universal Church, or that the Roman Pontiff is not the successor of Peter in that primacy, “let him be anathema.” Those sentences are the Catholic claim that Peter was first in that office and that the popes succeed him in it. This page did not fetch a Vatican list that numbers the popes, so it does not give a count. ## What Irenaeus wrote about Linus Irenaeus, *Against Heresies* 3.3, in the Ante-Nicene Fathers translation of Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut, is on New Advent, a third-party host. [(4)](#ref-4) He points to “the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul.” Then: > The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate. He says Paul mentions this Linus in the letters to Timothy. “To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric.” Peter and Paul are the founders in that paragraph. Linus is the first man to whom they commit the episcopate. Clement is third from the apostles, not second. That is Irenaeus. It is not a sentence of the Catechism, and it is not an Orthodox synod. Readers who ask who came after Peter are reading this list when they say Linus. The Catholic claim above is about succession in Peter’s primacy, which is a different sentence from Irenaeus’s order of names. ## What Eastern Orthodox pages say The Orthodox Church in America publishes a question-and-answer, “The Pope and Christian Unity.” The page is a clergy email, not a decree of a synod. [(5)](#ref-5) > These councils, while acknowledging the Pope as the “first among equals,” in no way envision the Bishop of Rome’s “primacy of honor” as a “supremacy of jurisdiction.” The same answer says the unity one seeks must be “a genuine unity rooted in Jesus Christ as the Great Archpastor and High Priest, as Saint Paul writes, and not in an administrative ‘Vicar.’” It also says that during its history the Orthodox Church had not been subject to the administrative authority of the pope of Rome, and that the early councils bear that out. Rev. George Mastrantonis, on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America site, writes that the Orthodox Church “does not believe in the primacy of any one leader of the Church, nor in the infallibility of any Church leader.” [(6)](#ref-6) That page is a teaching essay, not a synod. [Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic](/christianity/eastern-orthodox-vs-catholic) quotes him at more length, including his phrase “the first among equals” for the Ecumenical Patriarch. [What Does the Eastern Orthodox Church Believe?](/christianity/what-does-the-eastern-orthodox-church-believe) is the wider confession. ## What the Westminster Confession says Presbyterian and other Reformed churches that receive the Westminster Confession confess the Trinity and reject the pope as head. Chapter 25, on the Orthodox Presbyterian Church site: [(7)](#ref-7) > There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof. Westminster 25.1 calls the catholic or universal church invisible, and says it is under Christ the head. The confession does not say Peter was a bishop of Rome, and it does not say he was not. It denies that the pope is head of the church. [What Do Protestants Believe?](/christianity/what-do-protestants-believe) and [Catholic vs Protestant](/christianity/catholic-vs-protestant) quote that family of texts beside the Catechism. The [Reformed](/reformed) shelf lists the confession among that body’s own doctrine pages. [Ephesians 2:20](/bible/ephesians/2/20) says the household of God is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone. [Colossians 1:18](/bible/colossians/1/18) says he is the head of the body, the church. Readers set those verses beside [Matthew 16:18](/bible/matthew/16/18). The churches above do not read them the same way. This page does not add a verdict after the quotations. ## Frequently asked questions ### Who was the first pope? The Catechism and Vatican I say Peter received the primacy and that the Roman Pontiff succeeds him in it. The Orthodox Church in America answer says first among equals is not supremacy of jurisdiction. Westminster says the pope cannot be head. Irenaeus says Peter and Paul founded the church at Rome and handed the episcopate to Linus. Those are the texts. The page does not choose one. ### Who was the second pope? Irenaeus says the apostles committed the episcopate to Linus, that Anacletus succeeded him, and that Clement was third from the apostles. [(4)](#ref-4) This page did not fetch a Vatican numbering of later popes, so it does not repeat one. Linus, in Irenaeus, is the first bishop after the apostles, not a sentence that Peter was not among the founders. ### What does the Bible say? [Matthew 16:18](/bible/matthew/16/18) is the rock and the church. [John 1:42](/bible/john/1/42) says Simon will be called Cephas. [Ephesians 2:20](/bible/ephesians/2/20) and [Colossians 1:18](/bible/colossians/1/18) are the verses that call Christ the corner stone and the head. The churches quoted here disagree on what those sentences give to Peter’s successors. ### Does this page rank popes or discuss a living pope? No. The question is whether Peter was the first in the office the Catechism describes. Questions about a particular pope’s life are not in the texts fetched here. ## Keep reading - [Who Started the Catholic Church?](/christianity/who-started-the-catholic-church) - [Catholic vs Protestant](/christianity/catholic-vs-protestant) - [Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic](/christianity/eastern-orthodox-vs-catholic) - [What Do Catholics Believe?](/christianity/what-do-catholics-believe) - [What Do Protestants Believe?](/christianity/what-do-protestants-believe) - [Catholic](/catholic) - [Eastern Orthodox](/eastern-orthodox) - [Reformed](/reformed) - [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) ## Passages quoted on this page ### Matthew 16:18 King James Version. > And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ### Ephesians 2:20 King James Version. > And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; ### Colossians 1:18 King James Version. > And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. ### John 1:42 King James Version. > And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Gospel of Matthew, 16:18](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/16/18). King James Version 2. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 881](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2A.HTM) (Official English on the Holy See’s website. Paragraph 882 is on this same page. The pope is called Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor.) 3. [First Vatican Council, Pastor Aeternus, Denzinger 3053; 3057; 3058](https://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/EN/dxo.htm) (English of Denzinger on clerus.org, a third-party host. The Holy See publishes the constitution in Italian. An English text on vatican.va was not found.) 4. [Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.3.2–3](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htm) (Ante-Nicene Fathers, translated by Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut, on New Advent, a third-party host.) 5. [Orthodox Church in America, Questions and Answers, The Pope and Christian Unity](https://www.oca.org/questions/romancatholicism/the-pope-christian-unity) (A clergy email answer on the Orthodox Church in America site. Not a synod.) 6. [The Fundamental Teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church, The Church](https://www.goarch.org/-/the-fundamental-teachings-of-the-eastern-orthodox-church) (Rev. George Mastrantonis, on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America site. A teaching page, not a synod.) 7. [Westminster Confession of Faith, 25.6; 25.1](https://opc.org/wcf.html) (The Orthodox Presbyterian Church publishes this English text.) ## See also - [Who Started the Catholic Church?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-started-the-catholic-church) — The Catechism says Jesus inaugurated the Church and made Peter its rock. Westminster says Christ is the only head and the pope cannot be head. The fetched texts do not say Constantine founded it. - [Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic: What's the Difference?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/eastern-orthodox-vs-catholic) — Both confess the Nicene faith. They differ, in their own texts, on the filioque, the pope, Mary, purgatory, the cup for the laity, and clerical celibacy. - [What Do Catholics Believe?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-do-catholics-believe) — Catholics confess the Nicene Creed, and the Catechism’s teaching on Scripture and Tradition, seven sacraments, the pope, Mary, and life after death. - [Can You Lose Your Salvation? What Each Church Teaches about "Once Saved, Always Saved"](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/once-saved-always-saved) — Can a Christian lose salvation? Official teaching from Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, and other churches, with the King James verses each side cites. - [How Was the Bible Canon Decided, and What Is the Apocrypha?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-is-the-apocrypha) — Trent receives the longer Old Testament and anathematizes refusal. Westminster says the books called Apocrypha are no part of the canon. The Catechism says the Church discerned the list by Tradition. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/who-was-the-first-pope.md)