Because Saint Peter is known as the “doorkeeper” of the kingdom of heaven. He earned this title thanks to a passage in the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus turns to Peter, his closest follower, and says: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. ”. That simple statement was enough for Pedro to go down in history, in paintings and sculptures, as the old man who carries the heavenly keys and, in the mouths of the people, gained even greater power than simply opening and closing doors. “If he opens and closes the doors and windows of heaven, then he is the one we will ask to make it rain or stop the floods”, says theologian Afonso Soares, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. Before assuming this role upstairs, Peter was, pardon the pun, Christianity’s first big shot. Soon after the crucifixion of Jesus, he organized the faithful in Jerusalem and, based on the teachings of the master, came to head the newborn religion.
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