Position · 445

Papal Primacy

The teaching that the bishop of Rome, as successor of Peter, holds full and universal authority over the whole church, and can teach infallibly on faith and morals under defined conditions.

Claims to a leading role for Rome go back to the early centuries, and Leo the Great (pope 440–461) set them out in strong form; and disputes over its scope were a cause of the Great Schism with the Eastern Orthodox. The First Vatican Council (1869–70) formally defined the pope’s universal jurisdiction and infallibility. Orthodox churches accept that Rome once held a primacy of honour, but not of jurisdiction, and prefer Conciliarity. Most Protestant churches reject papal authority altogether.