Page "Pope" Paragraph 7

The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus personally appointed Peter as leader of the Church and in its dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium makes a clear distinction between apostles and bishops, presenting the latter as the successors of the former, with the pope as successor of Peter in that he is head of the bishops as Peter was head of the apostles.

Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome and founded the episcopal see there can be traced back no earlier than the 3rd century.

The writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD 180 reflect a belief that Peter " founded and organised " the Church at Rome.

Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peter's presence in the early Roman Church.

Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96 about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the " struggles in our time " and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, " first, the greatest and most just columns ", the " good apostles " Peter and Paul.

St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did.

Given this and other evidence, many scholars agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero, although some scholars argue that he may have been martyred in Palestine.