The Catholic Church was started by the Jews that knew and followed and died for the living Jesus! For hundreds of years after Christ’s death, all Christians were Cathoics and all believed in the intercession of Mary and that the body of christ was literally in the bread and wine. Why did that change?
Your right, they were Catholics, after they made the Jews become Catholic or die or be run out of the country. Seems I read about an incident in Spain of all countries, where thousands of Jews were murdered. Oh, and a few trips down to the Holy Land by the so called Crusaders, who upon arrival murdered as many Jews as they could find. Even locking them in their Synagogues and burning it down around them. Sure. ALL were, until one guy, named Luther decided also that they were not the only way to Heaven, that faith in Jesus Christ alone was.
LOL! Not true.
There are no ancient references to Mary as intercessor.
The only church the disciples are recorded as starting was the one in Jerusalem. Maybe there were some others. There are no grounds for calling that church “Catholic”, in the sense of the Roman Catholic church.