It seems the word for "papa" in Latin or Greek was originally an affectionate way of referring to a bishop. Several major cities in the Roman empire had bishops

It seems the word for "papa" in Latin or Greek was originally an affectionate way of referring to a bishop. Several major cities in the Roman empire had bishops that used "pope" as a title. There were bitter disputes between them. Rome was pretty persistent about trying to pull rank. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch_of_Alexandria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch_of_Alexandria