Smalcald Articles, Part II, Article IV. The Papacy (paragraphs 4-5)

Luther writes:

“Yet it is manifest that the holy church was without a pope for more than five hundred years at the least and that the churches of the Greeks and of many other nationalities have never been under the pope and are not at the present time. Manifestly (to repeat what has already been said often) the papacy is a human invention, and it is not commanded, it is unnecessary, and it is useless. The holy Christian church can exist very well without such a head, and it would have remained much better if such a head had not been raised up by the devil. The papacy is of no use to the church because it exercises no Christian office. Consequently the church must continue to exist without the pope.”

Source: Theodore G. Tappert’s edition of The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959), p. 299.

Alternatively,

“Yet, it is obvious that the holy church was without a pope for over five hundred years at least, and even today the Greek church and many churches that use other languages have never been under the pope and still are not. Thus, as has often been said, it is a human fiction. It is not commanded. There is no need for it. And it is useless. The holy Christian church can survive quite well without such a head. It would have been much better off if such a head had not been raised up by the devil. The papacy is not necessary in the church, because it exercises no Christian office, and thus the church must continue and endure without the pope.”

Source: Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert’s edition of The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), pp. 307-308.