No, not at all. BTW, thank you for the excerpt, it revealed a lot. Deacons are nothing more than assistants, they hold no power nor authority, for even women were allowed to be deacons. Thus, Ignatius was wrong in his reverence towards them, equating it with God, that is. They do have a hierarchy, and are to be respected as much as their duties warrant, but not, as Ignatius states 'with the same reverence as you would a command from God'. Deacons can be deposed, the Words of God cannot be altered or defied.What's the "Roman" Catholic Church?
I belong to the "Catholic Church". "Roman" simply refers to the Liturgical Rite - of which there are some TWENTY that comprise the ONE Catholic Church.
Among these are the Byzantine Rite, Melkite, Maronite, Coptic, Alexandrian, etc. NONE of them are "Roman" Catholics.
As for the CATHOLIC Church - it was built by Christ. We read about this Church in the writings of 1st Century Bishop, Ignatius of antioch in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans. This was one of 7 Letters that he wrote on his way to his martyrdom in Rome at the beginning of the 2nd century. Ignatius was a student of the Apostle John and was appointed Bishop of Antioch by Peter.
Ignatius of Antioch
Follow your bishop, every one of you, as obediently as Jesus Christ followed the Father. Obey your clergy too as you would the apostles; give your deacons the same reverence that you would to a command of God. Make sure that no step affecting the Church is ever taken by anyone without the bishop’s sanction. The sole EUCHARIST you should consider valid is one that is celebrated by the bishop himself, or by some person authorized by him. Where the bishop is to be seen, there let all his people be; just as, wherever Jesus Christ is present, there is the Catholic Church (Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2 [A.D. 107]).
Now - does that sound like YOUR church?
I didn't think so . . .
Thus, no one has kept the apostolic tradition. The Church that you belong to, whether it be considered Roman or Western or Catholic, has a very distinct delineation and circumscription, in both its theology and geography and demograph, irrespective of what it's called. You are wrong to have such implicit faith in such an institution that was derived from such secular and specious origins.