This doctrine is called “Apostolic Succession” and is part and parcel of Roman and eastern Orthodox communions. It is also deeply problematic. Among the challenges – multiple competing popes in the 1300’s, the schism between Rome and the eastern communions, and worst of all, the plain truth that no one can actually trace a direct line of authority all the way back to the apostles. This perspective is clean, understandable, and patently false.