One of the oddities of Catholic apologetics is the appeal to Matthias to replace Judas. That's their major prooftext for apostolic success. But did Judas ordain bishops? Are contemporary Catholic bishops lineal successors to Judas? Did they inherit his teaching authority? If so, that would explain their character and behavior. They received the charism of Judas.
For that matter, is there any evidence (besides etiological legends) that Thaddeus or Bartholomew ordained bishops? Are some contemporary Catholic bishops lineal successors to Thaddeus and Bartholomew?
They sort of treat the Apostles now as "a college", with Peter as the head. So that whatever they did corporately, they all kinda-sorta had the power to do. And this enables them to get around the individual successions, as well. It was "the power" and "the authority" that passed generally through generations of "bishops", and not any one person. That's how they view it.
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