who is a pope in the catholic church
Pope The pope (Latin: papa from Greek: πάππας pappas,[1] a child's word for "father"),[2] also known as the supreme pontiff (from Latin pontifex maximus "greatest bridge-builder"), is the Bishop of Rome and therefore ex officio the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church.[3] The primacy of the Roman bishop is largely derived from his role as the supposed apostolic successor to Saint Peter, to whom Jesus is said to have given the Keys of Heaven and the powers of "binding and loosing", naming him as the "rock" upon which the church would be built. Since the 1860s, the pope has also been head of state of Vatican City,[4][5] a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within Rome. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, succeeding Benedict XVI.[6]
Papal primacy Because of its association with the supposed position of Peter among the Apostles, the function that, within the Roman Catholic Church, is exercised by the Bishop of Rome among the bishops as a whole is referred to as the Petrine function, and is generally believed to be of divine institution, in the sense that the historical and sociological factors that influenced its development are seen as guided by the Holy Spirit. Not all Roman Catholic theologians see a special providential providence as responsible for the result, but most see the papacy, regardless of its origin, as now essential to the Church's structure.[36]