The Episcopate of St. Peter

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 32, 6 August 1903, Page 19

The Episcopate of St. Peter

Letter from Bishop Nevill We are m receipt of the following letter from the Right Rev. Dr Nevill 1 , Anglican Bishkvp of ©unedin •'— ' Editor of the " N.Z. Tablet." ' Sir,— l presume it is to your courtesy that I owe the receipt of a copy of your paper in which comments are made upon a sermon of mine upon the above subject I am therefore led to believe that you will insert a few words from me in reply. That sermon was called forth in consequence of a statement made in the columns of the ' O D. Times ' that St. Peter was bishop of Rome from the year A.D. 33 to the date assigned to his martyrdom, say A.D. 67. It was the statement which I pronounced to be " astounding." I carried the historic enquiry down to the year 63 AD., up to which time it appeared pretty clear that St. Peter was not in Rome, but I also stated that I had no doubt that he did proceed thither some time during the succeeding four years and suffered there under Nero I quoted also the statements of St. Irenaeus as to his uniting with St. Paul in the appointment of Linus to be bishop, and that of the scholar Rufinus that both Linus and Cletus exercised the episcopal office in Rome during the lifetime of St. Peter (superstite Petro), though I also pointed out that the story of the 25 years' (let alone 34 or so) episcopate does not appear till the end of the 4th or early part of the sth century. All your quotations, therefore, to prove that St. Peter really did usit Rome are quite unnecessary Let it be granted he was martyred there. What of that ? You say that " a residence of a day or even an hour would f-uffice " Could such a visit be called an episcopate — especially one to give all future bishops of that city transcendent powers 7—l7 — I am, sir, yours, etc., ' S. T. NEVILL, ' Anglican Bishop of Dunedin. 1 July 30, 1903.' Our editorial remarks in last week's issue were, as stated there, based upon the condensed report of Bishop Neull's discourse that was supplied to the ' Otago Daily ■ Times ' His Lordship's statements as to St. Peter's presence and martyrdom in Rome were omitted from the necessarily summarised report, and the whole tendency of the matter that appeared was to discredit that Apostle's visit to, as well as his episcopate of, the Imperial city The communication punted above, and dated July 30, was handed in at our oflice shortly before it closed on Tuesday. All our available reading space had already been more than fully engaged Oui reply to the poirts raised by his Lordship is, therefore, unavoidably held over till next issue.