Almost everything about catholic faith revolves around events that (allegedly) happened in the Middle East. Most of the holiest sites seem to be there in relation to the bible’s depiction of events. So wouldn’t it make sense that the pope/vatican would place its power center as near as possible from the holiest sites? How did it come to be Rome? Was this a decision based on the current political climate at the time or was there a reason based on faith/rethoric of the church?
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The Catholic Church is an institution that emerged within the Roman Empire. It borrowed much of its organizational structure (like dioceses) from Rome. It received patronage from the Emperor (after 313). It was created to provide services to Christians across the Roman Empire, so from an institutional perspective, it made more sense to set up the power center of the church close to the political heart of the Empire. That would allow the church to have better access to Roman roads, maritime links, communications networks, and sources of funding and political support. Jerusalem may have been the foundational city of Christianity, but for an organization meant to represent Christians across the Empire, it was simply too irrelevant and remote.
Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople were also major power centers of the early church and were located closer to the Middle East, but Rome was able to bolster its prestige and independence as the Western Roman Empire collapsed to become the de facto leader of the church. Alexandria and Antioch were then conquered by the Islamic Caliphate in the 7th Century, and the church in Constantinople would eventually break off as the Eastern Orthodox Church when the Bishop of Rome grew more powerful and tried to assert his supremacy (to greatly oversimplify). Rome remains the power center of the Catholic Church to this day, while the other churches have their own power centers.
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