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===The Tradition===
There are numerous Patristic texts that support an early notion of petrine primacy in specific relation to the Bishop of Rome. Cyprian of Carthage (third century) expresses that primacy was given to Peter in order to maintain unity in the church and even further purports that acknowledgement of such is a mark of the truth church<ref> Collins, Roger. Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy. (New York: Basic Books, 2009)</ref> According to Russel Murray, Cypian understood this primacy as, “as a service that is realized in the preservation and promotion of the communion in faith and love that unites all the Churches as the one Church of Jesus Christ.”<ref>Murray, Russel. "Assesing the Primacy: A Contemporary Contribution from the Writings of St. Cyprian of Carthage.” Journal Of Ecumenical Studies 47, no. 1 (2012): 41-63.</ref> Tertullian also claims in On Modesty that the power of binding and loosing pertains specifically to Peter. That Peter was conferred this specific power because he was the first of all the apostles to be filled with the Holy Spirit. <ref>See: Tertullian, On Modesty, trans. S. Thelwall. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885). Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.</ref> Similarly, Clement of Alexandria refers to Peter as the “the chosen, the pre-eminent, the first of the disciples.”<ref>Clement of Alexandria, Who is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?” trans. by William Wilson. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. </ref>
===Conclusion===
Ultimately, answering this question will largely depend on the tradition and perspective you are approaching it from. There are substantial resources in the Roman Catholic Tradition to assert that the primacy of Peter and thus the primacy of the Bishop of Rome was instituted by Christ at the time of Peter’s confession of faith and then preserved thereafter, making Peter the first pope. Catholics do claim that an unbroken line of succession can be traced from Peter to the present day pope. There is at least some indication that several of the early church fathers assented to and perpetuated belief in the primacy of the Roman Bishop, though many Protestant scholars have found counter-evidence among Patristic texts which challenges such a belief. This, of course, undermines that support of the pontificate was unanimous among the early church and that a hierarchal structure with a central figurehead, the pope, was probable. Thus, acknowledgement of Peter as the first pope largely depends on what Patristic authors are given preference and how one interprets Matthew 16.
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