Authority of Peter?

[josephdaniel29]

I have a question I’d like to present to the Catholics here.

The Dictatus papae states that the Pope “alone has the power to depose or reinstate bishops.” Considering that statement, did St Peter alone have the power to depose or reinstate the other Apostles?

Yours in Christ
Joe

 

[ejreydrum]

That’s a good question, and I believe the answer is a little complicated. Peter did have the power to apoint discliples, but who are the descendants of the disciples, the Bishops, So, in those times, peter didn’t appoint disciples but rather Bishops. These were the Presbyters of which the the New Testament talks about. Peter was the Bishop of Rome, and he appointed other Bishops. Peter could, I Believe, dispose of Bishops or at least give Christians caution to not see someone as a Bishop.
Now, anyone can be a follower of Christ, no one has to appoint you to that, except the Holy Spirit when you are baptized in Water and Spirit.

 

[Vincent]

You might find Jimmy Akin’s “Successors of the Apostles” helpful, although it doesn’t answer your question directly.

There is a difference between the Apostles and their successors, the bishops. For example, Akin argues that the Apostles had universal jurisdiction, while bishops, have particular jurisdiction. The Pope, however, “as Vicar of Christ and pastor of the whole Church . . . has full, supreme and universal power over the Church.”

If all of the Apostles had universal jurisdiction, it seems unlikely that St. Peter could have deposed or reinstated the other Apostles. The Pope, on the other hand, can depose or reinstate the other bishops.

 

[Todd_Easton]

Our Lord gave the power to bind and loosen to St. Peter individually (Matthew 16:19) and to all the Apostles collectively (Matthew 18:18). So, it seems to me, that, theoretically, another Apostle could be deposed or reinstated by the individual decision of St. Peter or by the collective decision of all the other Apostles, in union with St. Peter.

Providentially, the need to exercise that particular power never arose.

 

[NotWorthy]

I think, although Peter did have the authority, that the Holy Spirit would have protected Peter from making this grave error, just as the Holy Spirit protects any Pope from “binding” in error.