It's not just Mt. 16 but particularly Lk 22:32 and Jn 21 that apply here. Jesus seems pretty clear that he is giving pastoral care responsibilities to Peter in unique way that that at the same time does not exclude a whole lot of other pastoring going on.
"Feed my lambs" (= shepherd, pastor)and "confirm your brethren" and keys to the household (read the Isaiah passage to which Mt 16 refers and you'll see it's the position of chief steward of the royal household) far surpass any similar authority given to Paul (Damascus Road). No other apostle is given the equivalent of even one of these passages' attention.
To have all three of them directed at Peter would be truly striking, if it were not for the water under the dam that gives people presuppositions that make them unable to see how much these passages stand out.
And then, when you combine this with the striking way that Peter actually acts as head of the apostolic college throughout the book of Acts: if a Martian who knew nothing about the Protestant-Catholic-Orthodox disputes happened upon the Bible and read it analytically, the inordinate attention given to Peter would jump out immediately.
It all seems obvious to me now but there was a time when I read right past all these passages and did not notice how they together build up to a crushing case for Petrine primacy. (And yes, I know all the relativizng arguments, about Paul arguing with Peter to his face etc--fine--no one says one cannot disagree with Peter's successor--the debates are about under which circumstances and how. The relativizing arguments are compelling to those who don't accept Petrine primacy but my question is whether a Martian would see them as canceling out the truly striking coalescing of Mt 16, Lk 22, Jn 21 with all the narrative of Acts.)
But you and others are not Martians and neither am I. I was blind to these passages once and now they seem so obvious. I don't think that can be explained simply because I am now a Catholic because it was dropping of my blinders and opening of my mind to these passages that made me a Catholic rather than the other way around.
Does anyone know a good Martian who could give us an unbiased reading of this Scriptural data?
Hey, I accept Petrine authority. That is the inescapable conclusion of Mt. 16:19. I just don't accept the argument that Peter's authority is transferred to the Bishop of Rome.