16 simon peter answered and said: thou art christ, the son of the living god. 17 and jesus answering, said to him: blessed art thou, simon bar-jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my father who is in heaven. 18 and i say to thee: that thou art peter; and upon this rock i will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 and i will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. 20 then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was jesus the christ. the pope doesn't have absolute authority and is still bound by biblical law as defined by the magisterium. the practice of selling sacraments is referred to as simony and is a sin.
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