Primacy of The Bishop of Rome - Historical Development - Ante-Nicene Period - Stephen I

Stephen I

The first bishop to claim primacy in writing was Pope Stephen I (254-257). The timing of the claim is significant, for it was made during the worst of the tumults of the third century. There were several persecutions during this century which hit the Church of Rome hard; Stephen himself and his immediate successor Pope Sixtus II were martyred. Cyprian of Carthage(d.258) stressed the Petrine primacy as well as the unity of the Church and the importance of being in communion with the bishops. For him, "the Bishop of Rome is the direct heir of Peter, whereas the others are heirs only indirectly", and he insisted that "the Church of Rome is the root and matrix of the Catholic Church". Pope Damasus I (366-384) was the first pope to claim that the primacy of the Church of Rome rested on Peter alone, and the first to refer to the Roman church as "the Apostolic See" (the see of the Apostle Peter). To uphold its primacy, the prestige of the city itself was no longer sufficient, but in the doctrine of apostolic succession (from Peter) the popes had an unassailable position.

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