I do not recall the Pope being their. If you abstract the words, which is more logical, anyone can forgive sins, which makes more sense than one man having that authority.
“I do not recall the Pope being their.”
Apparently you don’t recall much about the Bible. John 20:24 indicates all the Apostles other than Thomas (and Judas of course) were there. That means Peter was there. That means the first pope was there.
“If you abstract the words, which is more logical, anyone can forgive sins, which makes more sense than one man having that authority.”
Nothing is more logical than simply taking the words for what they say. And the power given to the Apostles was not give to everyone by Christ, but was given to the Apostles alone. Anyone can say he forgives a sin against himself, but who has the power to forgive or retain sins against others? God does. And God gave that power to the Apostles (John 20:23).