AnswerThe Roman Catholic Church has a Pope because Jesus chose Peter to be his "Rock." (Mt 16:18: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.) Peter was chosen as the first leader of the church and he has had 264 successors since his death. ANSWERThe Roman Catholic Church, including Her leadership, was not started by any one person; it was founded by Jesus Christ, acting in the fullness of His divinity. It is the original form of Christianity; as promised, the Holy Spirit has continued to guide the understanding of the Church, and Her doctrine has developed over the course of 2000 years. Since Christianity is really the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament, its core belief preceded the Incarnation of Christ. Christ's message allows us to see the faith of the Old Testament from a new perspective. The idea is that the Old Testament believers believed in the promised Messiah (Christ) before he came and New Testament believers ("Christians") believe in the promised Christ who came.

At first the Christians were not organized into any official structure, though it was immediately obvious that there was an accepted line of authority. Since these men all preached against following the customs of men, it is clear that the idea of an authoritarian Church had to have been a direct teaching of Christ. This is borne out in Gospel passages. Whenever Christ was conferring authority, He did so only to the Apostles, never to the crowds or to the general public. The recognized leaders were the Apostles, and the congregations of each locality had local leaders, called "elders", "presbyters", or "pastor/teachers". These leaders were not self-appointed, nor were they selected by the local members of their areas. The Apostles, as shown in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, had to approve of and lay hands on these local presbyters---that is, they had to pass on the authority Christ granted them. This is today called Apostolic Succession.

Christians were persecuted by civil authorities because they would not recognize Caesar as divine. They met, often secretly, and corresponded with each other. The pastoral letters all speak loudly of the authority of the Apostles. The instructions of these letters are not suggestions; they are binding, to the point that excommunication is recommended as the final correction for anyone who refuses to obey.

For one special question, the Apostles and the rest of the church met together in Jerusalem (Acts 15, 1-35). In this meeting, the authority of the Church is again apparent. The council settled, authoritatively, a key point of the faith: that the message of God extended also to the Gentiles. In other words, the faith is catholic, universal. The results of the decision were sent out via Judas Barsabbas and Silas. This practice continues today in the issuance of encyclicals, bulls, and statements sent out to the Church by the Holy See.

Roman Catholics have known and demonstrated, since immediately after the Ascension of Christ, that the Apostle Peter was the first leader of the Church. Most Protestant Christians reject this fact and assert that Peter was an equal among many Apostles. However, the Book of the Acts of the Apostles shows, repeatedly, Peter clearly acting as the leader. There is no record that his position as leader was ever challenged by any of the other apostles, even though there was some discord as the fullness of the faith was wrestled with. For example, Peter was once corrected by the Apostle Paul.

As predicted by the Apostles, a variety of different ideas about Christ and about God were advanced by people claiming to be Christians. These doctrines had to be tested against the teachings of the Apostles; remember, there was not yet a written body of Christian texts. The Apostolic Tradition, those things taught orally by the Apostles, was to be the guide for Truth. This was in accordance with the directive Christ gave when he said, "Whoever hears you, hears Me." It was to the apostles (that is, the authoratative Church) that this statement was made. It was NOT made to the body of believers at large.

Teachings at variance with apostolic tradition were rejected as "heresies", that is, as false teachings. Only the truth as Christ passed it on to the Apostles is true. Eventually, in the 4th century, these apostolic traditions became the basis for the establishment of the Canon, that is, the collection of sacred writings Christians worldwide today call the Bible. The Church reviewed thousands of texts, measuring each against apostolic Tradition, and included only those which did not differ from those Traditions. The Christian Bible, whether used by Catholics or Protestants, is a Catholic text. It is interesting to note that, although the Catholic Church organized and established the canon of Scripture, there are many today who try to find within Scripture proof that the Church lacks authority or authenticity. Should that argument ever be found to be true, the Bible itself loses authority; if the Church that chose the canonical texts had no real authority to do so, then the canon itself must be seen as suspect. This is clearly not the case, for the Truth of Scripture has been borne out over the course of nearly 2000 years of human experience.

The keeping of the Traditions, which formed the early Church and led to the structure of the Bible, was, and remains, a central obligation of the Church. Even in today's secular world, when many people reject the fullness of the faith because it is inconvenient, or because individualism makes an authoritative Church seem outdated, the Church maintains that it is not within its power to change the Traditions as handed down by the Apostles.

Answer

It is believed by some (those who oppose the Papacy) that Peter had any successors. We see however in Acts that the first order of business was to fill the office of Judas. So we know that there was already a heiarchy established. We also know that there is documented, recorded history that shows the legacy of Jesus. If you want to know and understand why the Catholic Chuch teaches this or anyting else, I beg you to study and find out. Don't take peoples responses on these boards, research historical facts. Read the early Church fathers. There is a wealth of information out there and you must discern what is historical facts and what is someones opinion.

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