The Catholic Church, one and the same at the time with the Orthodox Church, existed since the Pentecost AD 33. The word "catholic" was first used by St. Ignatius of Antioch in his Epistle to the Smyrnaeans: "wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church" in 1c or at the latest early 2c.
Yes, we had pretty bad popes from time to time. This does not break the apostolic succession though because it cannot.
Pretty bad Popes does not cut it. You had centuries of Whore mongers and Murderers. And the Papacy was bought and sold by the leading families in Europe. But anyway, lets get back to my point. Where are the proofs that the Apostles and authors of the new testiment were Catholic?