Yes, actually. Catholics believe that Christ commanded there to be a Pope in the bible. It started in the Gospel of Matthew when Christ told Peter, “You are Peter and upon this rock, I will build my Church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. I give you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:18-19). In other words, Peter was given a unique position to establish the Church, with unique authority on earth and in heaven. In other words, Peter became the first Pope.
Christ also consistently stated his expectations of Peter in this role, such as when he tells Peter to, “feed my sheep” (Jn 21:17) and “strengthen the brethren” (Lk 22:32). Peter, for the most part, played the same role that Popes play today. He called a Church Council in Jerusalem to define teachings of the Church (Acts 15:7), he traveled to Christian communities and served as a faithful priest.
On another note, several of the titles of pope illuminate the role he plays in human salvation, among these include:
Pontifex Maximus: Literally this means, “bridge builder” and it’s a title borrowed from Roman Emperors, who literally built bridges. Now the term is used for the Pope symbolically, as someone who builds the bridge between God and Man.
Vicar of Christ: A vicar is a servant who stands in place of his master. The title illustrates the Pope’s role to represent Christ on matters of faith and morals. This will be a future entry on Papal infallibility.
Servant of the Servants of God: As it sounds. We’re all called to serve Christ, the Pope plays a special role in helping us through his teachings on faith and morals.
The papacy is a defining element of Catholicism, but it can be a stumbling block for many to accept. I’m going to cover the topic of Papal infallibility in a future post but I’d also love to hear other questions or challenges about the papacy and I will do my best to answer faithfully.