Almost everything about catholic faith revolves around events that (allegedly) happened in the Middle East. Most of the holiest sites seem to be there in relation to the bible’s depiction of events. So wouldn’t it make sense that the pope/vatican would place its power center as near as possible from the holiest sites? How did it come to be Rome? Was this a decision based on the current political climate at the time or was there a reason based on faith/rethoric of the church?
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ELI5 Catholics believe Jesus made Peter the first head of the Church. There’s a wordplay in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus renamed Peter since he was “Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my Church.”
Tradition says Peter went to Rome and was martyred for the faith. After he died, the claim of primacy remained in Rome. St. Peter’s Basilica is literally built on what the [Vatican believes to be St. Peter’s grave.](https://stpetersbasilica.info/Necropolis/RedWall.htm)
So concerning what Christ said, Catholics literally believe St. Peter was the Rock and upon that Rock they built the Church.
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