Quote:
Originally Posted by RedinTexas
I don't know how many Catholics there are across the world, but maybe a billion? The Pope is the leader of that church and frankly, is seen as the leader of all the Christian religions in a lot of ways. As such, the Pope has incredible influence over a major portion of the world's population.
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My understanding is that the major difference between Catholicism and the Protestant denominations is essentially that the Catholics believe the Pope to be the final authority (Protestants point to scripture).
So yeah, if the Catholics believe that the Pope is essentially a living Bible of sorts, that's a pretty big deal.
That said, I'm not sure why the Pope should carry any influence over the Protestant religions at all. They exist largely BECAUSE the Protestants didn't believe in the plenary authority of the Papacy. If you don't believe in papal supremacy (and the Pope very obviously does) then why would you consider him a leader of your Church?