In my first post on the Answering Pastor Pete's objections series (start with the oldest post and work your way to the newest at the link), Deacon Bill left this in the comments:
The place to begin is not in the minutiae but in establishing whether the Church has authority and is trustworthy. If one settles that question in the affirmative, the rest is about conforming our will to God's.
It's with that in mind that I link to Fr. Longenecker's latest piece on the importance and relevance of Apostolic 
Succession when defending the Catholic faith from its detractors:
Whenever I am involved in conversations with non-Catholic Christians I go straight to the authority question. If that question is not resolved then every other discussion is only matter of swapping opinions.
It is important, therefore to be clear on the basics of the Catholic understanding of authority.
It is rooted in the fact that Jesus Christ was sent by God and had all authority on heaven and earth. (Mt 22:18)
Jesus exercised this authority by 1. Teaching the truth 2. Healing the sick 3. Vanquishing the Devil. He told his apostles to continue this work. (Mt. 22:19)
He delegated that authority to his apostles because he said, “As the Father has sent me I am sending you.” (Jn 20:21)
The apostles appointed their successors who are the bishops and priests of the Catholic Church.
Fr. Longenecker then cites a number of early Christians to bolster his case and then concludes:
This is why Catholic priests and the Catholic faithful need to be true to the teachings of the Catholic faith. Without it we are simply trading in our own opinions. When we contradict church teachings, dissent from Church teachings we are taking ourselves outside the line of authority and our views–no matter how seemingly reasonable and no matter how passionately we hold them–are dust in the wind.
They have no more authority or weight than anyone else’s opinions. You may argue your point and rage against the authority of the church, but step outside it and you are on your own.
The analogy I use is that of the barque of Peter. Launch out on your own and your on the wild and wide open sea in little more than a self inflated life raft.
The barque of Peter may be an old ship. She may be creaky and leaky at times. She may have troubles in the engine room and the cargo in the hold may be rotting, but she’s still more seaworthy than your own little lifeboat, and even though she may be tossed about by the winds and stormy seas she’ll make it to the port at last.
I go back to something I said in the initial post of the series:
If, as Pastor Pete suggests, we are disqualified to be Catholic, we are disqualified only by our unwillingness to see and recognize authority outside of ourselves.
Glad to see that I'm saying, less eloquently, what Fr. Longenecker is saying.
It means I'm learning.
