Catholic theologyclaims that apostle Peter was the first pope, though neither the Bible nor the historical record reveals whether he ever visited Rome. Catholic lists of supposed popes from the time of Peter onward disagree with each other respecting the order different persons and the years they were said to serve as pope. Though for many years the Roman church tried to claim for itself supremacy, dissenters to those aspirations were many.
The first pope, in the real sense of the word, was Leo I (440-461). Being endowed by nature with the old Roman spirit of dominion, and being looked upon by his contemporaries, in consequence both of his character and his position, as the most eminent man of the age, he developed in his mind the ideal of an ecclesiastical monarchy, with the pope at the head, and endeavored with great energy to transform the constitution of the Church in conformity with his ideal. (McClintock and Strong)
Yet, still Leo I was not universally recognized as pope and no one was viewed as such for centuries to come. Boniface III claimed for himself universal pope in A.D. 607 and the Emperor bestowed the title of universal pope on Boniface III in A.D. 606 (McClintock and Strong, “Boniface, Pope” and “Oceumenical Bishop”). Neither the word “pope” nor any teaching about the “pope” appears in Scripture. Rather than a centralized government ascribed to successors of Peter, the New Testament describes independent, self-governing congregations that follow New Testament instruction (1 Timothy 3:1-6; Titus 1:5-9; Acts 14:23).
As far as God and the Bible are concerned, there has never been and there is not now such an office as the pope. The first universally recognized pope was Boniface III (nearly 600 years after the establishment of the Lord’s church in Acts 2).
Works Cited
McClintock, John and John Strong. “Boniface, Pope.” McClintock-Strong Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Seattle: Biblesoft, 2000.
