[sitetest]

Dear Darkwolf,

The teaching of the Catholic Church is that Jesus founded the Catholic Church, and He founded it upon Simon Peter. He gave to Peter the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, the power to bind and loose, thus making Peter the "prime minister," so to speak, of Jesus' Church.

From this comes the title "Vicar of Christ," as a vicar is someone who governs in the place of another, the other being the actual ruler, and a prime minister governs in the place of, and under the authority of the King.

Hope that helps.


sitetest

[Darkwolf]

Thank you both. My friend's comment continues: "Things got more complicated as the early "Christians" went along and people started disagreeing about what to do and who should decide. Eventually the Bishop of Rome decided his opinion was more valid than anyone else's and he kicked out anyone who wouldn't go along with that (Greek Orthodox church). So, we ended up with a roman-style hierarchical system. The mass is a combination of coming together as a family, listening to His words, and remembering Him (as he asked us to) by re-enacting the last supper. I think he'd approve of the "celebration" but I don't think he'd be too pleased with the structure of the institution."

I guess what she's saying is that Jesus didn't set up the church and he didn't create its structure or give the pope rule over the church (however that's worded).

Thanks again for the help.