No the papacy is not a fraud. The fact that there are bad Popes does not negate the Papacy, in fact, I would argue, kingdoms have risen and fallen yet the Church of Rome and Bishop of Rome are still here. The fact that there is a continuity with the Bishop of Rome and the languages of Latin and Greek, which were 2 of the 3 languages that the words the King of the Jews was written on the Crucifix which Christ hung is itself incredible. Christianity is not a Gnostic religion, it is an Incarnational religion, a religion of the 2nd Person of the Trinity becoming Incarnate of the Virgin Mary. The CHurch as the Body of Christ makes present Christ and this just as Christ was A Divine Person with a fully Divine and human nature, the Church is both invisible (the communion of saints in heaven) an visible (faithful on earth). Hence, the Church and the Bishop of Rome connect down through space and time in direct continuity Christ, the Apostles, the early Popes to this day.
The fact that human sin and stupidity have not caused the downfall of the Church of Rome and by extension the Pope (Bishop of Rome) is IMO, only explainable by Divine Providence. The Faith delivered the Apostles, the faith of the early Church Fathers, the faith of the 4 great early Councils is still the faith today despite the stupidity and foolishness of Francis.
But Francis is not the first apostate pope. I wouldn’t trust a pope to speak with authority because he can do a lot of damage because people have been told to believe what he says. This guy is leading the gullible straight to hell.