Simon Peter, also known as Saint Peter, was an early Christian leader and one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. Peter is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles and is venerated as a saint. The son of John or of Jonah or Jona,[1] he was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee or Gaulanitis. His brother Andrew was also an apostle. Peter is venerated in multiple churches and is regarded as the first pope by the Catholic Church. After working to establish the church of Antioch and presiding for seven years as the leader of the city's Christian community,[2] he preached, or his epistle was preached in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia Minor and Bithynia to scattered communities of believers: Jews, Hebrew Christians and the gentiles.[3] He then went to Rome where in the second year of Claudius, it is claimed, he overthrew Simon Magus and held the Sacerdotal Chair for 25 years.[citation needed]