The promise of the Petrine ministry: an old stumbling block, a new stepping-stone

Abstract

One of the most significant developments in Protestant-Roman Catholic ecumenism is the changing perspective on the Petrine ministry, especially as it relates to Protestant Christianity, in which the longstanding ecumenical “thorn in the flesh” has become more of an “open” question. In this article these new Protestant viewpoints and the underlying factors facilitating these changes are addressed, and most notably the vast benefits that arise from a new perspective on the papacy. It will be argued that Protestants may potentially embrace the Petrine office as an authentic ministry of the Christian churches, which provide actual benefits for the wider community of Christians. It will also be argued that the papacy can only be fully embraced to the extent that certain modifications are realised in its manner of exercise. Protestant traditions in their diversity have much to offer Roman Catholicism in their critique of the Petrine ministry as it presently exists.