Pope

The word "Pope" means "papa" or "father." At first it was applied to all Western Bishops. About 500 A.D. it began to be restricted to the Bishop of Rome, and soon, in common use, came to mean Universal Bishop. The Roman Catholic list of Popes includes the Bishops of Rome from the 1st century onward. But for 500 years Bishops of Rome were not Popes. The idea that the Bishop of Rome should have authority over the whole church was misleading and non - Biblical. The Roman Catholic tradition that Peter was the first Pope is fiction due to a lack of any Biblical or historical proof. (See Innocent III)