o As an apostle, Peter gathered the remnant community at
Pentecost, defended it before Jewish authorities, and was one
of the three “pillars” of that church before “going to another
place.” Paul recognizes Peter as the first witness to the
Resurrection and as a leader of the Jerusalem church to whom
Paul “reported” early in his own ministry.o Tradition locates Peter as the first bishop of Rome—the first letter
of Peter is written from “Babylon,” a code word for Rome—and
as a martyr in the city, together with Paul, under Nero.• Tradition quickly solidified the symbolic (and real) centrality of the
Roman church because of Peter.
o The Acts of Peter locates Peter’s martyrdom in the city, while
the letters of both Clement and Ignatius link Peter and Paul
together as martyrs in the city of Rome.
o In his Adversus haereses, when Irenaeus of Lyons responds to
the Gnostics’ claim of secret teachers by tracing the “apostolic
succession” of bishops, he uses as his example the bishops of
the city of Rome, linking them one by one backward in time
from his own day to Peter, the chief apostle.o The rash effort of Victor I to excommunicate the Asian church
around 190 over the disputed date of Easter is clearly an
overstepping of the limits to Rome’s authority, but the fact that
he tried shows some of the prestige implicit in his position.o The moral and administrative authority of Rome nevertheless
grew, especially under Damasus I in the late 4th century (366–
384). In 397, the Council of Carthage in North Africa declared
that its decisions needed to be checked with “the church across
the sea,” clearly indicating the church of Rome.o In conflicts to follow, Rome would establish itself as the
great referee.