“God and his Truth are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and we don’t need a mortal man in Italy to tell us what that truth is.”
Everyone has their interpretation on what is the “Truth”. You could post any verse of the Bible and it would mean something different to everyone on this forum. Unless you are a Mennonite, you too are relying on mortal man’s interpretation. I, for one, am more receptive to those with decades of training and language, history, and culture than someone who paid $50 for a “Reverend” license out of Parade Magazine. It does matter. Just like the constitution, if you have the wrong person in charge, they can make it say whatever they want. Nobody claims the Pope is anything but mortal. As the chief administrator of such a large and far reaching organization, it is important who is in charge because he will be the ultimate determiner of what offshhots are allowed to get away with.
The ONE in charge of Christianity is Jesus, HE is the Rock that the church (world wide body of believers) is built on. You are correct that the Pope is the administrative head of the Catholic Church, but he is not necessary for believers to be in communion/relationship with Jesus.
I hope your pope serves the Catholic Church well, but to me, it doesn’t matter one iota who the Pope is or what his personal beliefs are.