St. Peter's Chair
On February 22, we celebrate the feast of the Chair of St. Peter; no, this does not mean that an inanimate object has been canonized. Rather, this feast day celebrates what the chair, residing in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and thought to have been used by St. Peter himself, represents - the papal authority established by Jesus as the foundation of His Church on earth.
Grounded in scripture, the papacy is one of the primary Catholic teachings that has allowed the Church to endure for thousands of years. Amid strife, war, scandal, and fads that have come and gone, the Catholic Church, under the unifying leadership of the Pope, has stood strong as Christ's beacon of truth on this earth. In Matthew 16, Jesus asks of his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Simon responds, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” With that affirmation, Jesus declares, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” By renaming Simon Peter, or Petros, which means 'rock', Jesus is literally building His enduring earthly institution with Peter as its keystone. Despite denying Jesus three times before His crucifixion, Peter evangelizes with zeal after Pentecost. He becomes the Bishop of Rome (the primacy of which was widely acknowledged in the early church), and after his martyrdom, the binding teaching authority of the church passed to his successor, Linus. This authority has continued to pass down to the current day, with Pope Francis being the latest vicar.
The pope's binding authority is known as infallibility, and contrary to popular belief, not every word from the Pope's mouth or hand is infallible. In fact, the last time the Pope spoke ex cathedra (literally 'from the chair' and conferring infallibility) was in 1950 when Pope Pius XII formally defined the long-held belief in Mary's assumption as doctrine. While we should still treat all papal teachings (encyclicals, homilies, etc.) with gravity, only those teachings specifically on faith and morals that are spoken ex cathedra are considered binding.
The wooden chair after which the feast day is named was encased in bronze in the 17th century by famous Italian artist Bernini and lofted above an altar. Bernini also sculpted four figures to flank the chair, all Doctors of the Church. St. Augustine and St. Ambrose represent the Western church, while St. John Chrysostom and St. Athanasius represent the Eastern church; together, they symbolize the universality of Catholicism found in what John Paul II called the "two lungs" of the faith as well as their unity on the essential teaching of the papacy.
By Anna Neal