who was in charge of the catholic church

As an AI language model, I can provide information up until September 2021. As of my last update, Pope Francis, whose birth name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is the current head of the Catholic Church. He was elected as the 266th Pope on March 13, 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Francis is the first Jesuit Pope and the first Pope from the Americas, specifically from Argentina.