He wasn't just a pope, he was the first pope, named by Christ Himself.
And Christ never made Peter a pope. Catholics do s little selective verse picking with you “on this rock” verse.
They never tell you that the other popular interpretation of the rock is that Jesus was referring not to Peter, but to Peter’s confession of faith in verse 16: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” Jesus had never explicitly taught Peter and the other disciples the fullness of His identity, and He recognized that God had sovereignly opened Peter’s eyes and revealed to him who Jesus really was. His confession of Christ as Messiah poured forth from him, a heart-felt declaration of Peter’s personal faith in Jesus. It is this personal faith in Christ which is the hallmark of the true Christian. Those who have placed their faith in Christ, as Peter did, are the church.
Jesus never commissioned or envisioned the Medieval kingdom that is the Roman Church,,, the last surviving European monarchy.
Peter was a shepherd to his people. Nothing more. He was no Pope.