Not looking for a fight SD, just trying to get a handle on this. But as I see it, unless ALL of the priests, bishops and popes lineage can be authentically traced back to the apostles, then what the Pope said is incorrect, or at the very least, inconsistent.
That all of the Catholic bishops do indeed trace their lineage directly to the Apostles in a continuous laying on of hands is a foundational truth of the Catholic Church. My point, however, is that other Protestant denominations (in general) do not claim this succession, so they can not meet the Catholic definition.