I understand what you are saying, but you are not connecting all the dots. What is “the Church”? Is it just the hierarchy? If so, cannot individual members of the hierarchy produce something harmful to the faith? And didn’t validly consecrated bishops participate in Vatican II? What if V2 was never an ecumenical council in the first place? Or what if it began as a valid ecumenical council, but failed in its essential purpose and became a failed council? How could it be an ecumenical council if John XXIII was an antipope?

My contention is simply that rather than needing to resolve exactly who was Pope and when, the answer to where the Church can be found comes down to who is upholding the Truth, as handed down to us prior to Vatican II, and then exposing why V2 and the teachings that come from it cannot be relied on a Catholic. That relieves the pressure of having to make individual judgments on the internal forum of particular members of the hierarchy.