One slight quibble here.
“Roman Catholics interpret Matt. 16:18 to mean that Peter is the rock upon which the church is built. That interpretation then becomes the basis for the doctrine of papal succession.”
No. It doesn’t work that way. As we see here daily, the Roman denomination decides what the doctrine will be - often at the inclusion of syncretic paganism - then goes to Scripture to find something that sounds like what they claim.
In this instance, the Roman denomination decided all should bow to Rome. They then try to justify it by twisting the passage in Matthew. The Orthodox denominations didn’t agree with the arrogance of Rome. Rightly so.
An accurate description. Not the trunk of the tree, the true universal church with Jesus Christ its cornerstone, but a Roman denomination with the Papacy its cornerstone.
I have somewhat of an understanding of how Jesus felt, when he looked around at some people, grieving at their inbelief, and hardness of their hearts. Do you think this is just a 21st century version?