During the birth of the early church, Peter became the leader of the Christian community who stood before everybody. He was "filled with the Holy Spirit" and addressed crowds in various numbers "to repent and be baptized" (Acts 2:38). The leadership of Peter constituted his identity in terms of apostolic primacy. St. Leo the Great has called him as the one who merited the primacy of the apostolate.

At the heart of the primacy, pastoral service is an act of charity. Patterned after Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd, Peter and his successors are called to genuine service to the whole people of God. "Jesus came to serve and not to be served." It was the vision of Christ that the pope and the bishops be visible leaders of the Church. Lumen Gentium affirms that, "He willed that their successors, namely the bishops, should be shepherds in His Church even to the consummation of the world." (LG 18) The generous act of service of the Holy Father is always centered on the good of the Church. His election and identity throughout the generations becomes a symbol of the Church’s life, validity, and perpetuation.

Another pastoral act of charity among the successors of Peter is the sense of unity. The Roman Pontiff should be a visible sign of unity and communion vertically with Christ and horizontally with the members of the Church within and outside it. The humble disposition of service for unity in the Church is the vocation of the Roman Pontiff. Let us be reminded that Christ "placed Blessed Peter over the other apostles, and instituted in him a permanent and visible source and foundation of unity of faith and communion." (LG 18)

The apostolic work of the Roman Pontiff is always at the service of love. The Holy Father is the Vicar of Christ on earth and as vicar he confers on himself the title as "Servant of Servants of God." Paul VI emphasized that primacy which the Roman Pontiff enjoys "is a primacy of service of ministration, of love. It is not empty rhetoric which confers upon the Vicar of Christ the title of "Servant of the Servants of God." It is in this fraternal service that the Holy Father and his successors exercise the virtue of love. Likewise he fosters fraternal dialogue among all the members of the Church and the followers of the great religions of the world. Christ is the head of the Universal Church and this has been given precedence to Peter and his successors in the succeeding generations.

The charity of primacy is also at the service of truth. The Roman Pontiff is the servant of truth. To teach and preach for the whole People of God is a gesture of charity. Peter received the mandate from Christ saying: "feed my lambs." (John 21:15) As a servant of truth, the Roman Pontiffs lead all the faithful to Christ, like Peter having that confession of hope "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (Jn 6:68) It is part of the duty of the Roman Pontiff to promote, safeguard, and explain revealed Truth.

As the primacy of the pope remains intact, complete and whole, he enjoys the full, supreme power over the entire Universal Church. The charity of this primacy is shown in the bond of peace, love, and unity.