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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Another reason is due to the centers of Church authority in the Middle East (Jerusalem, Antioch, Damascus, etc.) were taken over by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 600s. While there were large Christian populations there for centuries (and indeed there’s plenty of Christians there today) Islam would dominate the region more. This meant more Church authority would be found in places like Rome or Constantinople.
The Roman Catholic Church would regain more control in the Middle East for about 200 years during the Crusades but with the end of the Crusader states the area would be dominated by Muslim states.
(Note: before the 1000s while there were regional differences in customs there was still one Church)
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