I just wanted to add to the many great answers here. I apologize if someone already mentioned this. I have a book with the writings of the Early Church Fathers and the book also contains the Didache.
I agree with those on here that the Fathers may not have been specifically referring to the Catholic Church of today. However, they do talk about apostolic succession, their belief in the Eucharist, and the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome. Referencing said book, i will have to dig it out to give an exact quote and i can right now, St Ignatius of Antioch reference both the head of the seat or head of the Church being in Rome and his belief in the Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus. This book has several of his letters that he wrote on his way to his execution, i believe. It’been a while since I’ve read it. I moved recently and everything is still packed away. Maybe for a while, haha.
So if you look at what the early Christians believe, what the Church Father’s believe, you will see the Catholic Church and many of the Orthodox Churchs of today. In the early days of Christianity and today in both the Catholic and Orthodox Church, we believe essentially the same thing.
