Time to get rid of the pope?

[KatyKopykat]

I'm not Catholic so I don't know much about this. Could the world survive without the Pope? There's no need for a head of the Catholic church. There's no Anglican equivalent. Keep the bishop of Rome job, but leave it at that.

Expecting to get totally pasted here and I accept that I know nothing and happy to have explanations.

Admins @mnhq please remove if this is not allowed.

Why do you care?

0/10

What is the point of this thread if you state you know nothing about the situation.

Neither do I but I suspect theres been some thinking about Pope necessity within the Catholic church for probably 1600-2000 years.

Ever heard of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the Anglican equivalent. But Anglican is Church of England, so not the same scale as the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic means universal, so worldwide and actually incorporates many other churches such as the Albanian and Coptic churches.

However, if you are not Catholic, then the Pope won’t matter much to you. For the millions of Catholics worldwide, yes, of course they want to keep him!

I'm not Catholic
There's no need for a head of the Catholic church.

Surely that’s a matter for people who are Catholic to decide?

Not sure it's any of your business, OP.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Anglican communion. The Pope is the direct successor of St Peter, who was put in charge of the church by Jesus himself. So yes he is essential.

Who would drive the Pope mobile?

It's up to roman catholics to decide I'd say! Makes no impact on most of us.

Breaking news: the Pope doesn't drive the Popemobile.

As a non-Catholic myself, I cannot imagine having an opinion on whether they need a Pope. I assume so, or they wouldn't have one. 🤷‍♀️

Start a thread on Catholicism by demonstrating you utter and complete lack of knowledge or even interest in Catholicism. Funny.

Yes he was the first pope as I understand it.

Don’t be ridiculous ! You’re not even RC.

He got a ban didnt he? Speeding or something.

The Pope sends Father Christmas an official naughty/nice list at the start of December every year. Without that function, Christmas could not happen and parents would have to buy their own presents for the good kids. Donald Trump has offered to do it anyway so no need to worry 👍

Think of all those poor white smoke manufacturers who would go out of business without papal succession

Has Trump declared the tariffs on imports from the North Pole yet?

I'm not a student. There's no need for teachers.

Can we also do away with POTUS and the Prime Minister?

I mean, nobody would really miss them either.

I guess you mean the papacy as an institution, because (spoiler alert) Pope Francis died recently so there isn't a Pope at the moment.

Anglicans have the Achbishop of Canterbury + the King as heads of the Church. Most religions have a figurehead, for Catholics its the Pope.

Obviously the world would survive without a Pope, or any other religious leaders. But why does the papacy bother you so much and not other religions? Are you Henry VIII?

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/the-popemobile-of-peace-pope-francis-final-gift-to-gaza.html

I am not religious. I see no problem with Catholics having a Pope. It made me smile and I was quite touched, when I found out in the funeral coverage, that Pope Francis like to tootle round Rome in a Fiat 500 and pop in to his favourite shops for some bits.

Google the reformation!