According to the Catholic Church when was the first pope appointed?

Answer 1

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, appointed Peter as the first pope.

Answer

We now have good reason to doubt that Saint Peter was the first bishop of Rome and therefore first pope, which means there is a lack of certainty as to who the first pope really was. Francis A. Sullivan SJ (From Apostles to Bishops) says that most scholars, including most Catholic scholars, are of the opinion that the early church of Rome was led by a group of presbyters, and that bishops were not appointed to the church in Rome until later in the second century. The first person known with certainty to have been a bishop of Rome is Anicetus, although it is very possible that his predecessor in tradition, Pius I, was also a bishop. The earliest bishops were usually appointed by a vote of lay people and presbyters.

Answer 2

the first pope was not elected but appointed by Jesus himself. saint Peter was the very first pope 2000 years ago. Jesus said to Peter "you are the rock upon which I will build my church and the gates of he'll will not prevail against it".

Actual Answer:

The pope was originally chosen by those senior clergymen resident in and near Rome. In 1059 the electorate was restricted to the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and the individual votes of all Cardinal Electors were made equal in 1179. Pope Alexander II would have been the first pope elected by the College of Cardinals under the new canon law in the year 1061.

Answer 3

Peter was appointed as the first Pope about the year A.D. 33 by Our Blessed Lord, Himself (read St. Matthew's Gospel 16:17-19). From there we know that our first Holy Father, or Vicar of Christ (his title is based on the chief steward of the Jewish Kingdom (see Isaiah 22:15-25) on which Christ modeled his Vicar by giving him the "keys of the Kingdom" (St. Matthew 16:19). From There St. Peter went to Rome, we know this from his own testimony in his first letter where he tells us that he is writing from "Babylon" which was the Christian code word for Rome at that time. Subsequently he and St. Paul were both martyred there and St. Peter was buried on Vatican Hill, his tomb has been excavated beneath the high altar of St. Peter's, you may view the evidence at the link below. In the Liber Pontificalis which is a list of all the Popes from the very beginning, it lists St. Peter as ruling the Church from 32 A.D. until his martyrdom in A.D. 67. We know that St. Peter was martyred in Rome and buried beneath the high altar of St. Peter's as the graffiti on the wall around the tomb, which indicates St. Peter was buried there, was written by those who were present and gave him their allegiance as Bishop of Rome. Plus their children and grandchildren, carrying on the tradition, right down to the present day. So, St. Peter was the first pope, and was buried in his tomb, which you can go to see at the present time. His tomb has been venerated all throughout history, even during the terrible persecutions of the first two centuries. People gave their lives to transmit this information on the Pope on which Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, founded His Church, and we must respect those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to give this knowledge to future generations, and on to us. Thus we have, from the Liber Pontificalis the following list of popes, and their dates:

1. St. Peter (32-67)

2. St. Linus (67-76)

3. St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88)

4. St. Clement I (88-97)

5. St. Evaristus (97-105)

6. St. Alexander I (105-115)

7. St. Sixtus I (115-125) Also called Xystus I

from The Essential Catholic Survival Guide Answers to Tough Questions About the Faith by the Staff of Catholic Answers; Nihil Obstat: Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004, Imprimatur: +Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004, © 2005 by Catholic Answers, Inc. San Diego, CA

Early Christian Testimony

William A. Jurgens, in his three volume set The Faith of the Early Fathers, a masterly compendium that cites at length everything from the Didache to John Damascene, includes thirty references to this question, divided, in the index, about evenly between the statements that "Peter came to Rome and died there" and that "Peter established his See at Rome and made the Bishop of Rome his successor in the primacy." A few examples must suffice, but they and other early references demonstrate that there can be no question that the universal-and very early-position (one hesitates to use the word tradition, since some people read that as "legend") was that Peter certain did end up in the capital of Rome.

Tertullian, in The Demurrer against the Heretics (A.D. 200), noted of Rome, "How happy is that church . . . where Peter endured a passion like that of the Lord, where Paul was crowned in a death like John's [referring to John the Baptist, both he and Paul being beheaded]." Fundamentalists admit that Paul died in Rome, so the implication from Tertullian is that Peter also must have been there. It was commonly accepted, from the very first, that both Peter and Paul were martyred at Rome, probably in the Neronian persecution of the 60s.

In the same book, Tertullian wrote that "this is the way in which the apostolic churches transmit their lists: like the church of the Smyrneans, which records that Polycarp was placed there by John; like the church of the Romans, where Clement was ordained by Peter." This Clement, know as Clement of Rome later would be the fourth pope. Clement wrote his Letter to the Corinthians perhaps before the year 70, just a few years after Peter and Paul were killed, in it he made reference to Peter ending his life where Paul ended his.

In his Letter to the Romans (A.D. 110), Ignatius of Antioch remarked that he could not command the Roman Christians the way Peter and Paul once did, such a comment making sense only if Peter had been a leader, if not the leader, of the church in Rome.

Irenaeus, in Against Heresies (A.D. 190) said that Matthew wrote his Gospel, "while Peter and Paul were evangelizing in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church." A few lines later he notes that Linus was named as Peter's successor, that is, the second pope, and that next in line were Anacletus (also know as Cletus), and then Clement of Rome.

Answer 4

The first Catholic Pope is widely regarded to be none other than St. Peter, one of Jesus' twelve apostles. Jesus Christ himself chose Peter to lead his Church when he said "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18), although the term "Pope" came about much later.
The first Catholic Pope is widely regarded to be none other than St. Peter, one of Jesus' twelve apostles. Jesus Christ himself chose Peter to lead his Church when he said "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18), although the term "Pope" came about much later.

Answer 5

Jesus Christ appointed Peter as the first leader of his Church when He said:

And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. (Matthew Chapt. 16)

Peter is considered the first pope even though the term 'pope' did not come into common usage until much later. Whether Peter was in Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome or elsewhere, he is still considered the first pope. Later, as the Church grew and a hierarchy developed. the Church established its headquarters in Rome as Rome was considered the center of the world at the time. It had good roads reaching out to the vast empire as well as ships that plied the Mediterranean. Missionaries could reach anywhere in the known world from Rome.

As the pope was the highest ranking Church authority in Rome, he was automatically consider the Bishop of Rome. From 1309 until 1377 popes reigned from Avignon in France. No matter, the pope was still the pope. Once the situation was resolved, the papacy returned to Rome and the pope again resumed his position as the Bishop of Rome along with his title of Pope. Even today, should Pope Francis make the unlikely decision to move the Church headquarters to, say, Buenos Aires, Argentina, he would still be Pope and the assigned Bishop of Rome would simply be the Bishop of Rome. The Pope would be the Bishop of Buenos Aires as well as pope of the Universal Church. The Church has ample evidence that Peter did rule from Rome at some time. But even if he had never stepped foot in the city, he was still the Pope. Being Bishop of Rome is not a prerequisite for the papacy. By default, if the pope is headquartered in Rome, he is also the bishop of that diocese.

And, yes, Peter did reside, at least for a time, in Rome and died there under orders from Roman Emperor Nero. Francis A. Sullivan SJ in his book From Apostles to Bishops states unequivocally that Peter was in Rome and died there. His statement is based on both scripture as well as the writings of early Church fathers.

Answer 6

We now have good reason to doubt that Saint Peter was the first bishop of Rome and therefore first pope, which means there is a lack of certainty as to who the first pope really was. Francis A. Sullivan SJ (From Apostles to Bishops) says that most scholars, including most Catholic scholars, are of the opinion that the early church of Rome was led by a group of presbyters, and that bishops were not appointed to the church in Rome until later in the second century. The first person known with certainty to have been a bishop of Rome is Anicetus, although it is very possible that his predecessor in tradition, Pius I, was also a bishop. The earliest bishops were usually appointed by a vote of lay people and presbyters.

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/catholicism/a-brief-history-of-the-early-popes

Answer 7

Peter might have been the leader of the Christian faith from about 33 CE, but this does not mean he was the first pope unless he went to Rome. If the pope is considered to be the bishop of Rome, then the answer depends on when the first bishop of Rome was either appointed or elected. Francis A. Sullivan SJ (From Apostles to Bishops) says that there is a general agreement among scholars, including Catholic scholars, that the church of Rome was led by a council of presbyters until well into the second century, with no evidence of a ruling bishop. In spite of tradition, the first person actually known to have been a bishop of Rome was Anicetus, who was bishop from about 157 to 168 CE.

It seems inconceivable that Peter could have established a precedent of being the leader of the Roman church and for the church immediately to abandon the precedent and ignore it for almost a century before joining other churches in having a monepiscopal bishop. Later traditions do place Peter in Rome and list a series of bishops who supposedly succeeded him, but these are contrary to the evidence.

Answer 8

Jesus Christ himself.