“..new and novel?...”
Catholic tradition is rooted in Jewish tradition. There is nothing novel about it. The first Catholics were Jewish and they had practiced their Jewish faith prior to their conversions. They continued the practice of relying on oral tradition when they converted.
From the beginning the Torah was always accompanied by oral tradition that was necessary to understand it properly. It was thought to be blasphemous to write oral tradition down!! Eventually it became unavoidable to write it down and it became the Mishna, etc.
Oral tradition was inseparable for the early Jewish Catholics and there is no way they suddenly stopped the manner of practicing their faith that had been taught to them since the time of Moses.
early Christians were Jewish, the Catholic Church wasn’t around for at last a half century or more