Jesus, but for only a brief time as he appointed Peter as the head of the Church.
Pope Pelagius II was the predecessor of Pope Gregory I, the Great.
If you are talking about Pope Benedict XVI, then the pope before him was Pope John Paul II
It was the Western Church that accepted the authority of the pope and celibacy. This led to the Great Schism in 1054, which resulted in the separation of the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East. The Eastern Orthodox Church did not recognize the authority of the pope and allowed married clergy.
When the pope took power and led the army of soldiers, women, and elderly, it made it seem like the pope had plenty of power of everything. Not only that, it also expanded the power in the church.
The last time someone from outside Europe led the Roman Catholic Church was the year 741, when Pope Gregory III, born in Syria, ended his 10-year reign.
The Pope's home church, whether it's Julius II or any other Pope before and after him is the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.
Before he became pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was the head of the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. He was the church's foremost theologian.
a series of events under the reign of King Henry VIII which led to the separation of the Church of England from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church
There are several theological and political factors, but primarily the authority of the Pope
The pope is the head of the Catholic Church. There is only one Catholic Church and it is not a sect. To be a Catholic Church, a church must be in union with the pope. If they are not in union with the pope, they are not Catholic.
The Pope stopped speaking to King Henry VIII because Henry requested an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which the Pope refused to grant. This led Henry to break away from the Catholic Church and establish the Church of England with himself as the head, causing a rift between him and the Pope.
There is only one pope and he rules the Church from the Vatican. In 2014 that pope is Pope Francis. Individual countries do not have popes. The pope before him was Pope Benedict XVI who was German.