However if one believes that Jesus established His Church on Peter, and that Jesus promised that He would not abandon the Church, and that the Holy Spirit would be sent as a guide and helper (paraclete) to that Church, then even in times when there is great confusion, Jesus would protect His Church from the foibles of human beings. That the Catholic Church did survive this time, and many other assults from outside, and within, shows (at least to me) that it is not simply a human institution, but also a Divine institution. The fact is that the Church not only lived through such dark days, but that is was able to determine who was the legitimate Pope, and who where the Anti-Popes.