St. Optatus & Early Evidence For the Papacy

St. Optatus of Milevis, Against the Donatists, Book 7, Chap. 3, AD 384: “… blessed Peter (for whom it would have been enough if after his denial he had obtained pardon only) both deserved to be placed over all the Apostles, and alone received the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, which he was to communicate to the rest.”

St. Optatus of Milevis, Against the Donatists, Book 1, Chap. 10, AD 384: “Therefore none of the heretics possess either the Keys, which Peter alone received, or the Ring, with which we read that the Fountain has been sealed; nor is any heretic one of those to whom that Garden belongs in which God plants His young trees.”

St. Optatus of Milevis, Against the Donatists, Book 2, Chaps. 2-3, AD 384: “You cannot then deny that you do know that upon Peter first in the City of Rome was bestowed the Episcopal Chair, on which sat Peter, the Head of all the Apostles… that, in this one Chair, unity should be preserved by all, lest the other Apostles might claim----each for himself----separate Chairs, so that he who should set up a second Chair against the unique Chair would already be a schismatic and a sinner. To Peter succeeded Linus, to Linus succeeded Clement…”

St. Optatus of Milevis, Against the Donatists, Book 2, Chap. 4, AD 384: “… we read that Peter received the saving Keys – Peter, that is to say, the first of our line, to whom it was said by Christ: 'To thee will I give the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven,' and these keys 'the gates of Hell shall not overcome.'  How is it, then, that you strive to usurp for yourselves the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, you who, with your arguments, and audacious sacrilege, war against the Chair of Peter?”