Peter may not have been “Pope” as we understand it now, but in the AD 60s, both he and Paul were executed after serving at the Church in the belly of the beast, which in AD 64-67 was Nero’s Rome. Since Peter was heading the Church in Rome when he was killed, the Bishop of Rome is now considered his successor. That St. Peter was there, in Rome, was attested to by Clement of Rome, the 3rd Bishop of Rome or “Pope” if you will, in his letter which circulated in the AD 90s.
Precisely. The acorn and oak tree look nothing alike.