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I will then place into Peter’s hand an iron sceptre with which he will guard My sheep,
and for those who do not know and still ask themselves “why is it that we have to have
a guide?” I tell you this
–
“have you ever seen or known of any flock of sheep without a
shepherd? I am your Heavenly Shepherd and I have chosen Peter to keep My lambs
until My return. I have given him the responsibility, so why all these disputes, why all
these futile arguments?” And for all those who still do not know My words, I tell you to
read them in the Scriptures
–
they are to be found in the testimony of John, My
disciple.
7
I will then unite My Church and encircle you with My arms into one fold for
today; as it is you are all scattered, developing too many communities, split sections.
My Body you have torn apart and this CANNOT BE. I will unite you all. (16.05.1988)
Other messages speak of the Pope as the Vicar of Christ or the Vicar of the Church. Here is
one example:
Pray for the whole Church. Be the incense of My Church and by this I mean that you
pray for all those who are proclaiming My Word, from the Vicar who is representing
Me to the apostles and prophets of your days, from the sacerdotal souls and religious
souls to the laymen, so that they may be ready to understand that all of you whom I
mentioned are part of One Body, My Body. (10.01.1990)
(More references in
01.06.1989, 02.03.1990, 10.10.1990, 18.03.1991, 20.04.1993, 20.12.1993, 15.04.1996,
22.10.1996, 20.12.1996.)
The writings contain no references to how the role of Peter will relate to the roles of the
various patriarchal sees, and so I cannot speak about this. But I am aware that the Pope
himself in the Encyclical “Ut unum sint” does open up for a discussion of this sort:
It is nonetheless significant and encouraging that the question of the primacy of the
Bishop of Rome has now become a subject of study that is already under way or will be
in the near future. It is likewise significant and encouraging that this question appears
as an essential theme not only in the theological dialogues in which the Catholic
Church is engaging with other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, but also more
generally in the ecumenical movement as a whole. Recently the delegates to the Fifth
World Assembly of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of
Churches, held in Santiago de Compostela, recommended that the Commission “begin
a new study of the question of a universal ministry of Christian unity”. After centuries
of bitter controversies, the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities are more and
more taking a fresh look at this ministry of unity.
8
The same encyclical confirms the necessity of East and West reuniting, allowing differences
between the two communions while being in full communion:
In view of all this, the Catholic Church desires nothing less than full communion
between East and West. She finds inspiration for this in the experience of the first
millennium. In that period, indeed, “the development of different experiences of
ecclesial life did not prevent Christians, through mutual relations, from continuing to
feel certain that they were at home in any Church, because praise of the one Father,
through Christ in the Holy Spirit, rose from them all, in a marvellous variety of
languages and melodies; all were gathered together to celebrate the Eucharist, the
heart and model for the community regarding not only spirituality and the moral life,
but also the Church's very structure, in the variety of ministries and services under the
leadership of the Bishop, successor of the Apostles. The first Councils are an eloquent
7
John 21:15-17.
8
Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint of the Holy Father John Paul II on Commitment to Ecumenism, 89.