Catholic Church

===Apostolic era and papacy===
{{Main|Apostolic Age}}
[[File:Perugino - Entrega de las llaves a San Pedro (Capilla Sixtina, 1481-82).jpg|thumb|alt=Painting a haloed Jesus Christ passing keys to a kneeling man.|A {{Circa|1481-1482}} [[fresco]] by [[Pietro Perugino]] in the [[Sistine Chapel]] showing [[Jesus]] giving the [[Keys of Heaven|keys of heaven]] to [[Saint Peter]]]]
[[File:Última Cena - Da Vinci 5.jpg|thumb|[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|''The Last Supper'']], a late 1490s mural painting by [[Leonardo da Vinci]], depicting the [[last supper]] of Jesus and his [[Apostles in the New Testament|twelve apostles]] on the eve of his [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]]. Most of Jesus' apostles are buried in [[Rome]], including Saint Peter.]]
The [[New Testament]], in particular the [[Gospels]], records Jesus' activities and teaching, his appointment of the Twelve Apostles and his [[Great Commission]] of the apostles, instructing them to continue his work.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|p=30}}<ref name="Kreeft98O">Kreeft, p. 980.</ref> The book [[Acts of Apostles]], tells of the founding of the Christian church and the spread of its message to the Roman empire.<ref>Burkett, p. 263</ref> <!--from Acts of the Apostles--> The Catholic Church teaches that its public ministry began on [[Pentecost]], occurring fifty days following the date Christ is believed to have [[Resurrection of Christ|resurrected]].<ref name="Barry48"/> At Pentecost, the apostles are believed to have received the Holy Spirit, preparing them for their mission in leading the church.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1076|quote=The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit...}}</ref><ref>{{cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Holy Ghost}}<br />"He [the Holy Spirit] is essentially the Spirit of truth (John 14:16–17; 15:26), Whose office it is to ... to teach the Apostles the full meaning of it [of the truth] (John 14:26; 16:13). With these Apostles, He will abide forever (John 14:16). Having descended on them at Pentecost, He will guide them in their work (Acts 8:29)...</ref> The Catholic Church teaches that the [[college of bishops]], led by the [[bishop of Rome]] are the [[apostolic succession|successors]] to the Apostles.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|880,883}}</ref>

In the account of the [[Confession of Peter]] found in the [[Gospel of Matthew]], Christ designates Peter as the "rock" upon which Christ's church will be built.<ref>Christian Bible, {{Bibleverse|Matthew|16:13–20}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/453832/Saint-Peter-the-Apostle/5630/Incidents-important-in-interpretations-of-Peter|title=Saint Peter the Apostle: Incidents important in interpretations of Peter|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=8 November 2014|archive-date=10 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110070846/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/453832/Saint-Peter-the-Apostle/5630/Incidents-important-in-interpretations-of-Peter|url-status=live}}</ref> The Catholic Church considers the bishop of Rome, the pope, to be the successor to [[Saint Peter]].<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|880–881}}</ref> Some scholars state Peter was the first bishop of Rome.<ref name="JoyceCE1913">{{cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=The Pope|first=George|last=Joyce}}</ref> Others say that the institution of the papacy is not dependent on the idea that Peter was bishop of Rome or even on his ever having been in Rome.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic.com/tracts/was-peter-in-rome|title=Was Peter in Rome?|publisher=Catholic Answers|date=10 August 2004|quote=if Peter never made it to the capital, he still could have been the first pope, since one of his successors could have been the first holder of that office to settle in Rome. After all, if the papacy exists, it was established by Christ during his lifetime, long before Peter is said to have reached Rome. There must have been a period of some years in which the papacy did not yet have its connection to Rome.|access-date=9 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212105950/http://www.catholic.com/tracts/was-peter-in-rome|archive-date=12 December 2016}}</ref> Many scholars hold that a church structure of plural presbyters/bishops persisted in Rome until the mid-2nd century, when the structure of a single bishop and plural presbyters was adopted,<ref name=REB/> and that later writers retrospectively applied the term "bishop of Rome" to the most prominent members of the clergy in the earlier period and also to Peter himself.<ref name=REB/> On this basis, [[Oscar Cullmann]],<ref>Oscar Cullmann (1962), Peter: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr (2 ed.), Westminster Press p. 234</ref> [[Henry Chadwick (theologian)|Henry Chadwick]],<ref>Henry Chadwick (1993), The Early Church, Penguin Books p. 18</ref> and [[Bart D. Ehrman]]{{refn|name=ehrman|{{cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/peter-paul-and-mary-magdalene-9780195343502|last=Ehrman|first=Bart D|title=Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=US|date=2006|isbn=978-0-19-530013-0|page=84|quote=Peter, in short, could not have been the first bishop of Rome, because the Roman church did not have ''anyone'' as its bishop until about a hundred years after Peter's death.}}|}} question whether there was a formal link between Peter and the modern papacy. [[Raymond E. Brown]] also says that it is anachronistic to speak of Peter in terms of local bishop of Rome, but that Christians of that period would have looked on Peter as having "roles that would contribute in an essential way to the development of the role of the papacy in the subsequent church". These roles, Brown says, "contributed enormously to seeing the bishop of Rome, the bishop of the city where Peter died and where Paul witnessed the truth of Christ, as the successor of Peter in care for the church universal".<ref name="REB">{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Raymond E.|year=2003|title=101 Questions and Answers on the Bible|url={{googlebooks|b8ubeFP6JUYC|page=132|plainurl=y}}|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-4251-4|pages=132–134}}</ref>