The three metaphors used by Jesus, explained the Pope as he summarised the meaning of Peter’s ministry, "are in themselves very clear: Peter would be the rocky foundation on which the edifice of the Church would rest; he would have the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven to open or close to those who he deems fit; finally, he would be able to tie or untie, which means establishing or prohibiting what he deems necessary for the life of the Church, which belongs and will belong to Christ. So what the later reflection would qualify as the primacy of jurisdiction is described with figures of a plastic clarity". The "pre-eminent position that Jesus meant to give Peter", according to the Pope, "can also be found after the Resurrection", since Peter, of all the Apostles, will be the first witness of the apparition of the Resurrected". "This role of his, which is positively stressed commented Benedict XVI , marks a continuity between his pre-eminence in the apostolic group and the pre-eminence he would keep having within the community born of the Easter events. His behaviour is considered so decisive that it has been widely commented upon and even criticised". "The fact that several key texts referred to Peter can be associated with the Last Supper, in which Christ entrusts Peter with the task of confirming his brothers ended the Pope , shows that the Church that is born of the Easter commemoration that is celebrated in the Eucharist has one of its constituent factors in the task entrusted to Peter".
