ca. 96 A.D., Pope Saint Clement, fourth Bishop of Rome, disciple of the Apostles Peter and Paul, Letter to the Corinthians
— Primacy of Rome —
1:1 Owing to the sudden and repeated calamities and misfortunes which have befallen us, we [i.e., the Church of Rome] must acknowledge that we have been somewhat tardy in turning our attention to the matters in dispute among you, beloved … .
— Infallibility —
58:2 Accept our counsel [i.e., the counsel of the Church of Rome] and you will have nothing to regret. For as God lives, and as the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit, and the faith and hope of the elect, as surely will he that humbly and with equanimity and without regret carries out the commandments and precepts given by God, be enrolled and chosen among the number of those who are being saved through Jesus Christ, through whom there is glory to Him forever and ever. Amen. …
59:1 If anyone disobey the things which have been said by Him [i.e., God] through us [i.e., the Church of Rome], let them know that they will involve themselves in transgression and in no small danger. …
63:2 You will afford us joy and gladness if, being obedient to the things which we have written through the Holy Spirit, you will root out the wicked passion of jealousy, in accord with the plea for peace and concord which we have made in this letter.
— ca. 100 A.D., Death of Saint John, the last of the Apostles —
ca. 107 A.D., Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, disciple of the Apostle John, Letter to the Romans
— Primacy of Rome —
Address Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the Church that has found mercy in the greatness of the Most High Father and in Jesus Christ, His only Son; to the Church beloved and enlightened after the love of Jesus Christ, our God, by the will of Him that has willed everything which is; to the Church also which holds the presidency, in the location of the country of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of blessing, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy of sanctification, and, because you hold the presidency in love, named after Christ and named after the Father. …
— Primacy of Rome; Infallibility —
3:1 You have envied no one, but others you have taught. I desire only that what you have enjoined in your instructions may remain in force.
— Peter in Rome —
4:3 Not as Peter and Paul did, do I command you. They were Apostles, and I am a convict.
ca. 170 A.D., Saint Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, Letter to Soter of Rome
— Primacy of Rome —
For from the beginning it has been your custom to do good to all the brethren in various ways, and to send contributions to all the Churches in every city, thereby relieving the poverty of the needy and providing for the brethren in the mines. In this way, through the contributions which have ever been made, you Romans have preserved the ancestral custom of the Romans. This custom your blessed Bishop Soter has not only preserved, but is augmenting, by furnishing an abundance of supplies to the saints and by urging with consoling words, as a loving father his children, the brethren who are journeying.
Today we have observed the Lord’s holy day, in which we have read your letter. Whenever we do read it, we shall be able to profit thereby, as also we do when we read the earlier letter written to us by Clement. (Eusebius, History 4:23:9-11)
ca. 180 A.D., Saint Hegesippus, Memoirs
— Primacy of Rome —
When I had come to Rome, I made a succession up to Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus. And after Anicetus, Soter succeeded; and after him, Eleutherus. In each succession and in each city there is a continuance of that which is proclaimed by the Law, the Prophets, and the Lord. (Eusebius, History 4:22:3)
ca. 185 A.D., Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, disciple of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, Against Heresies
— Peter in Rome; primacy of Rome; Infallibility —
3:3:2 But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the successions of all the Churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient Church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, that Church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the Apostles. For with this Church, because of its superior origin, all Churches must agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world; and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the Apostolic tradition. …
3:3:3 The blessed Apostles [Peter and Paul], having founded and built up the Church [of Rome], they handed over the office of the episcopate to Linus. Paul makes mention of this Linus in the [Second] Epistle to Timothy (4:21). To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the Apostles, Clement was chosen for the episcopate. He had seen the blessed Apostles and was acquainted with them. It might be said that he still heard the echoes of the preaching of the Apostles, and had their traditions before his eyes. And not only he, for there were many still remaining who had been instructed by the Apostles.
In the time of Clement, no small dissension having arisen among the brethren in Corinth, the Church in Rome sent a very strong letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace and renewing their faith. … To this Clement, Evaristus succeeded; and Alexander succeeded Evaristus. Then, sixth after the Apostles, Sixtus was appointed; after him, Telesphorus, who also was gloriously martyred. Then Hyginus; after him, Pius; and after him, Anicetus. Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place after the Apostles, the lot of the episcopate has fallen to Eleutherus. In this order, and by the teaching of the Apostles handed down in the Church, the preaching of the truth has come down to us.
ca. 200 A.D., Tertullian, The Demurrer Against the Heretics
— Primacy of Rome; infallibility; Peter the “rock”; keys of the kingdom —
22:4 Was anything withheld from the knowledge of Peter, who is called “the rock on which the church should be built,” who also obtained “the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” with the power of “loosing and binding in heaven and on earth?” (Matt. 16:18-19).
ca. 210 A.D., Tertullian, Against Marcion
— Primacy of Rome; infallibility; Peter in Rome —
4:5:1 Let us see what … the nearby Romans sound forth, to whom both Peter and Paul bequeathed the Gospel and even sealed it with their blood.
ca. 230 A.D., Saint Hippolytus of Rome, Bishop of Pontus, disciple of Irenaeus, Discourse on the End of the World
— Primacy of Rome; Peter the “rock”; keys of the kingdom —
10 First of all Peter, the rock of the faith, whom Christ our God called blessed, the teacher of the Church, the first disciple, he who has the keys of the kingdom (cf. Matt. 16:19).
ca. 245 A.D., Origen, Commentaries on Romans
— Primacy of Rome; Peter the “rock” —
When the Chief Authority as regards the feeding of the sheep was delivered to Peter; and on him, as on earth, the Church was founded; of no other virtue was the confession required, than that of love.
252 A.D., Pope Saint Cornelius, twenty-first Bishop of Rome, Letter to Cyprian of Carthage
— Primacy of Rome —
[Certain men, having fallen into a schism and now seeking reconciliation, besought Cornelius, saying:] “We are not ignorant of the fact that there is one God, and one Christ the Lord whom we confess, and one Holy Spirit; and that there must be one bishop in the Catholic Church.” (Cyprian, Letters 49 [46]:2)