On St. Peter

“O foundation of the Church blessed in calling him by a new name, O rock worthy to be built upon, which will dissolve the laws of hell, the gates of Tartarus, and all the bonds of death! O blessed doorkeeper of heaven, to whose judgment the keys of access to eternity are committed, whose earthly sentence is binding authority in heaven: whatsoever is either bound or loosed on earth, has the same binding force in heaven.”
—St. Hilary of Poitiers: Commentary on St. Matthew, 16, 7.
 
“But you say that the Church was founded upon Peter: although elsewhere the same is attributed to all the apostles, and they all receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the church depends on them all alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen so that when a head has been appointed, there may be no occasion for schism.”
—St. Jerome: Against Jovinianus, 1.
 
“It is not without reason that, among all the apostles, it is Peter who represents the Catholic Church. For the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given to Peter. And when it was said to him, it was said to all: ‘Lovest thou me? Feed My sheep.’”
—St. Augustine: De Agone Christiano, 30, 32.

St. Peter, by Andrea di Vanni d'Andrea.
Tempera on panel, 1390s;
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.