For in the the Catholic quest to almost deify Mary, it is taught by Catholics*,

Almost?

Almost??

Almost???

For in the the Catholic quest to almost deify Mary, it is taught by Catholics*,

Almost?

Almost??

Almost???

Well, Pope Leo XIII, said, “The power thus put into her (Mary’s) hands is all but unlimited," but Alphonsus Liguori stated, "She is omnipotent...since the son's power also belongs to the mother, this Mother is made omnipotent by an omnipotent Son. [Richard of St. Lawrence] " Sources for blasphemy.

So we get what St. Augustine thought.....let’s see what his predescessors, closer to the Apostles knew as truth....

And all this......200 years before St. Augustine...... so sorry, you post has Much less authenticity then you are trying to persuade with.....

The further you get from the source...in your case 200 ancient years +.. * Tatian the Syrian (170 A.D.): "Simon Kephas answered and said, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answered and said unto him, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah: flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee also, that you are Rock, and on this Rock will I build my Church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it" (The Diatesseron 23 [A.D. 170]).

* Tertullian (220 A.D.):"Was anything hid from Peter, who was called the Rock, whereon the Church was built; who obtained the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the power of loosing and of binding in heaven and on earth?" (Tertullian, De Praescript Haeret).
* Tertullian thereafter writes to criticize Pope Callistus I by saying ...."I now inquire into your opinions, to see whence you usurp the right for the Church. Do you presume, because the Lord said to Peter, 'On this rock I will build my Church ...[Matt 16-19]' that the power of binding and loosing has thereby been handed over to you, that is, to every church akin to Peter? What kind of man are you, subverting and changing what was the manifest intent of the Lord when He conferred this personally on Peter? 'On you,' He says, 'I will build my Church; and I give to you the keys'...." (Tertullian, On Modesty 21:9-10)

* The Apocryphal Letter of St. Clement of Rome to St. James (C. 221 A.D.) "Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon [Peter], who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus Himself, with His truthful mouth, named Peter" (Letter of Clement to James 2 [A.D. 221]) * St. Gregory Nazianzus write …. "See thou that of the disciples of Christ, all of whom were great and deserving of the choice, one is called a Rock and entrusted with the foundations of the Church." (Gregory Naz., T. i or xxxii). ... and "Peter, the Chief of the disciples, but he was a Rock (Gregory Naz., T. ii.) …and … "[Peter], that unbroken Rock who held the keys." (Gregory Naz., Sect. ii Poem Moral. tom. ii.)

* St. Gregory of Nyssa: "Peter, with his whole soul, associates himself with the Lamb; and, by means of the change of his name, he is changed by the Lord into something more divine. Instead of Simon, being both called and having become a Rock, the great Peter did not by advancing little by little attain unto this grace, but at once he listened to his brother (Andrew), believed in the Lamb, and was through faith perfected, and, having cleaved to the Rock, became himself Peter." (Gregory of Nyssa, T. i. Hom. xv. in C. Cantic). …and …. "Peter ...that most firm Rock, upon which the Lord build His Church." (Gregory of Nyssa, Alt. Or. De. S. Steph.)

* St. Basil the Great:…. "The house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the foundations of which are on the holy mountains, for it is built upon the Apostles and prophets. One also of these mountains was Peter, upon which Rock the Lord promised to build His Church." (Basil, T. i. Comment. in Esai. c. ii.). …and …. "The soul of blessed Peter was called a lofty Rock ..." (Basil, Sermon 1 De Fide I.13).

* St. John Chrysostom: "...and when I name Peter, I name that unbroken Rock, that firm foundation, the Great Apostle, the First of the disciples ..." (Chrysostom, T. ii. Hom. iii. de Paednit). …and …. "Peter, the leader of the choir, that Mouth of the rest of the Apostles, that Head of the brotherhood, that one set over the entire universe, that Foundation of the Church." (Chrysostom, In illud. hoc Scitote). and …. "Peter, ... that Pillar of the Church, the Buttress of the Faith, the Foundation of the Confession." (Chrysostom, T. iii. Hom. de Dec. Mill. Talent)

Just giving you information you won’t be given elsewhere...but the Church does not exist into the future without authority, authority that Christ gave to Peter ... there was no other reason for Matthews Gospel here....