Why is there a Pope? (No other major religion has the equivalent.) There's probably a ridiculously long explanation for this though you won't find it in the New Testament. Yes there is Matthew 16:18 but that passage doesn't say "Pope." And there is no absolute proof that Matthew, apostle and one-time tax collector, was the scribe of the first synoptic gospel but may have been written by an unknown non-observer. I think the idea of such a church structure that has at its head a "ruler" who has the last word didn't come from the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth but is based on the political organization of the Roman Empire.
