I was on my way home last night, and got to thinking about yesterday's post and possible topics on Lenten posting. It then occurred to me that we've had just over 2000 years of popes, and that divides nicely into a 40 day period, leading to...

Lentorama 2010: Two Millennia of Pointy Hats

The idea being I'll talk about someone who was pope for each 50 year segment of the office. This being day one, we start at the beginning of the first century AD, which pretty much gives us one option.

Day 1: St. Peter (circa 30-64 or 67)

For a guy who was an apostle and saint, there's a fair bit of confusion about Peter's role as the first pope. Or if he was even pope at all; doing a Google search on the topic will return a plethora of pages arguing both sides at various levels of hysteria.

We also don't know much about what Peter did while in Rome. The sources we do have were mostly written well after Peter's death, which could easily allow tradition to become fact.

And, of course, the actual title pope wasn't used in reference to the Bishop of Rome until much later, though that's the least of Peter's problems.

Obviously, this is a sensitive topic for the Catholic hierarchy, as without Peter being pope (or some sort of pope-like substance) the whole idea of the papacy being an unbroken line of leadership starting with Jesus goes away. This undermines the current leadership, and the next thing you know we're all Presbyterians or something.

Not surprisingly, it's not a topic that comes up in Sunday school, and I can't say I'd really ever considered it until now. I can say that I have a hard time caring either way.