Today’s Gospel passage challenges modern Catholics because it confronts our tendency towards individualism. This belief in self-sufficiency conflicts with our Christian call to community. God, as the Blessed Trinity, models for us a life of interdependence. Thus, when Jesus announces his plan to build a Church, he envisions a unified community, not isolated individuals. The papacy is the foundation of this unity.

As Jesus and his Apostles passed by Caesarea Philippi, a city set against a massive rock cliff, he used this imagery to explain his vision. The cliff symbolised solidity and invincibility, qualities Jesus wanted for his Church, founded on the rock of Peter. Jesus gave Peter the authority to lead, symbolised by the “Keys of the kingdom of heaven.” This authority has been passed down through the popes, ensuring the Church’s unity in faith and governance despite human failings.
St Augustine captured this well with the phrase, “Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia”—“Wherever Peter is, there the Church is.” The Second Vatican Council also affirmed this in Lumen Gentium, stating that Jesus established Peter as the perpetual source of unity for the Church.

The Second Vatican Council reiterated this in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. It declared that Jesus established the Church and placed Blessed Peter over the other apostles to ensure unity in faith and communion.

Christ renamed Simon as Peter early on, signifying a new role in salvation history. At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed especially for Peter and commissioned him to “confirm your brethren in the faith” (Luke 22:32). After his resurrection, Jesus commanded Peter to “feed my sheep” (John 21). Peter’s name consistently appears first in apostolic lists and is second only to Christ in New Testament mentions.

This primacy of Peter, continued through the popes, distinguishes Catholicism from other Christian denominations. While much unites us, including belief in the Trinity and the Resurrection, full unity requires addressing our differences honestly.

Keeping ourselves in communion with the Pope keeps us in communion with the Church, her teaching, and the mission Christ gave to Peter at Caeseria Philipppi.