Are the popes apostles?

[jimmyjames]

When speaking with my Reformed Presbyterian pastor, the subject of the pope came up. While speaking briefly on the subject, he inserted a peculiar statement saying, “…the Roman Catholic Church believes that the pope is an apostle. The problem with that is it was a requirement for any apostle to have seen Christ in the flesh.” He said this without commenting on any sources he had derived this from.

I have not been able to find any statement from the Catholic Church that reiterates this belief. So I ask, does the Catholic Church believe the popes to be apostles? If so, where can I find this written down?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

The Catholic Church believes that the pope is the successor to Peter, who was an apostle, but it does not believe that the pope himself becomes an apostle. The pope succeeds to Peter’s authority to teach, govern, and sanctify the universal Church and receives the charism of infallibility given to the papacy by Christ, but he does not succeed to Peter’s office as an apostle. That office of apostle was specific to Peter and to those given that office by Christ, but it was not handed down throughout the Christian age. Bishops are successors to the apostolic college collectively and the pope is the successor to Peter specifically, but that succession does not make them apostles.

Here is an analogy that may help: In a certain sense, we might say that the members of the U.S. Senate and Congress are successors to the Founding Fathers, with the U.S. President specifically being a successor to George Washington (the first president). But although these elected officials succeed to the authority their office grants them, they do not themselves become Founding Fathers. That title was limited to the men who originally joined together to unite the states they represented into a confederation. In a similar manner, the apostles handed down the authority of office necessary to teach, govern, and sanctify Christ’s Church, but, ordinarily, not their unique gift of having been called by Christ himself to be his apostles.

Since your pastor is asserting that Catholics believe that the popes are apostles, I recommend politely asking him to provide you with the documentation to substantiate his assertion.

Recommended reading:

Successors of the Apostles by Jimmy Akin