✦ Always Be Ready ✦
Catholic Apologetics
Scripture-backed, charitable answers to the most common questions about the Catholic faith — for Catholics, seekers, and honest inquirers.
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have — but do this with gentleness and respect.” — 1 Peter 3:15
Yes. Jesus explicitly said to Peter: 'You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 16:18-19). This is the foundation of the papacy. The early Church Fathers — including Ignatius of Antioch (c. 107 AD), Irenaeus, and Cyprian — all affirm the primacy of Rome and the succession from Peter. The Church did not gradually become Catholic; it was Catholic from the beginning.