I try to picture who asks questions like this and try to imagine why they ask them.
Every church everyplace has a ‘pope’ whether it is in name or in function. The Pope of the Catholic Church is a visible sign of unity – under normal circumstances.
The Church IS a family, a spiritual family, and it needs a head. I hope that you’re Catholic, to begin with, and that you can appreciate that without a leader at the top, the unity is shattered.