Church of the Primacy of Peter by the Sea of Galilee

Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter is a Franciscan church
located in Tabgha, by the Sea of Galilee

“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.” ~ Matthew 16:18

On May 31, 2023, we were deeply blessed to walk upon sacred ground at the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter, a humble yet powerful Franciscan church nestled on the very shores of the Sea of Galilee in Tabgha. This modern church, built in 1933, rises from the remains of a 4th-century church.

Known in earlier times as the Place of the Coals, the site memorializes that tender and holy moment in John 21 when the risen Jesus built a charcoal fire, prepared breakfast for His apostles, and spoke intimately with Peter. There, by the lakeside, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?”, and upon Peter’s threefold “yes,” reinstated him as chief among the Apostles. Standing there, one cannot help but feel the living weight of Peter’s mission and the enduring presence of Christ’s love for His Church.

Let us look at the biblical foundation of that Primacy.

In Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus makes three profound declarations to Peter:

  1. “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.”

  2. “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”

  3. “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.”

These words are not mere compliments or poetic imagery. They are divine commissioning. Jesus renames Simon as Peter—Kephas, the Rock—and He vows to build His Church on this Rock. The passage's structure confirms this: it is a triple blessing, not a mixture of praise and critique. To suggest otherwise would undermine the sacred context in which Jesus is elevating Peter to a unique role.

The keys to the kingdom—a symbol deeply rooted in Old Testament authority (cf. Isaiah 22:22)—are given to Peter alone, signifying stewardship and governance over Christ’s household on earth. The power to bind and loose, though later extended to the other apostles, is first spoken directly to Peter, reinforcing his role as the visible head of the Church.

This moment, confirmed again at the shore in John 21, reveals a visible, ordered, and enduring Church. Christ did not leave us with an abstract community of believers alone—He instituted a living, teaching, and shepherding body, beginning with Peter and continuing through the papacy to this day.

The Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter at Tabgha stands not only as a memorial to this event but also as a living testimony to the authority and unity Christ gave His Church. Our Lord's promise remains eternally firm: “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

So today, let us give thanks for the gift of Peter, the Rock, and for his successors, our next pope, who will continue to feed us. Let us pray for the next Holy Father that he may guide the Church with humility and strength. May we always remain faithful sons and daughters of this one holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, built on the sure foundation of Peter, the first shepherd under Christ.

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