Matthew 16:18 — "Upon This Rock"

The Coptic Orthodox Church affirms that Jesus gave Peter a special role and foundational importance in the church, but does not understand this as establishing papal primacy. Peter is honored as the first among apostles, but the Coptic tradition has never accepted Roman papal claims. The authority of the church resides in the ecumenical councils and in the apostolic succession of the whole episcopate, not in a single bishop. The Coptic Church itself has maintained a form of patriarchal leadership, but this is understood within an Orthodox conciliar framework where the patriarch is accountable to the synod and serves as a guardian of apostolic tradition rather than as an absolute monarch.