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Questions / The Church and the Pope

Is Peter the rock in Matthew 16?

Church teachingScripture

Answered on video by Catholic Answers

Video: Is Peter the Rock in Matthew 16:18?, Catholic Answers Live, published Mar 27, 2012. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: Yep. Jesus renames Simon “Peter,” which means rock, and builds His Church on him. Matthew 16:18 The Catechism says the Lord made Simon alone the rock of His Church. CCC 881

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

Jesus told Simon, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly.” Matthew 16:18

The Lord made Simon alone, whom He named Peter, the “rock” of His Church, and gave him the keys. CCC 881

Our words

In Aramaic, Jesus’ language, “Kepha” means rock both times. Many Protestant scholars today agree the rock is Peter himself.

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Sources on this page

How we know · 1 Catechism paragraph · 1 Bible passage
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 881 (official text on vatican.va).
  2. Scripture (World English Bible, Catholic edition, public domain; modern verse numbers, Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ): Matthew 16:18.

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