Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom and a Hundred Schools of Thought Contend!

Should computational science have a "pope"? In other words, should it be organized into a strict hierarchy, with the individual at the top serving as the supreme pontiff, an unassailable authority who makes all the important decisions on rules and practices and defines how the subject is taught and how it should be advanced? Rather than giving the immediate and obvious answer, let's take a look at what such an arrangement might actually mean.