What city was Peter the first bishop of?

Answer 1

A:

What we do know is that Paul described Peter as the apostle to the Jews and as one of the three pillars of the church in Jerusalem. However, Paul did not appear to see any one of the three - James, Peter and John - as a supreme leader of the church there. This is consistent with the consensus of scholars that Christian communities were led by a college of presbyters, rather than a single bishop, until well into the second century.

Catholic tradition says that the apostle Peter travelled to Rome to lead the Church there, and thereby became the first bishop of Rome and thus the first pope. However, the available evidence indicates that Peter never went to Rome, and the role of bishop did not exist until the second century. The Shepherd of Hermasis a work generally agreed to have been written in Rome during the first half of the second century. As in 1 Clement, the term it uses to refer to people in leadership roles are all in the plural: "leaders" (prohegoumenois); "presbyters who preside over the church (tôn presbuterôn tôn proistamenôn tês ekklesias); "leaders of the church and occupants of the seat of honour" (prohegoumenois tês ekklesias kai tois prôtokathreditais). The Shepherd makes no mention of any one person having a role of leadership in the church.

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Catholic AnswerRome, Peter, and the other Apostles were ordained by Our Blessed Lord as His first Bishops at the Last Supper. Since time immemorial, this has been celebrated during Holy Week as the priests and bishops renew their promises on Holy Thursday. Peter was the first bishop of Rome, he was buried on Vatican Hill, his tomb is seen daily by hundreds - it is directly beneath the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica. Each Holy Father since that time has been known as the "successor of St. Peter". Peter tells us this himself when writing from "Babylon", in his first letter, the New Testament code word for Rome. That and the unbroken tradition of 2,000 years proves conclusively that St. Peter was the first bishop of Rome.