I don’t believe I am anything like the apostle Paul in that I am not an apostle revealing directly what God said to me but only what bible says but I believe having my beliefs I should give hope to other Christians within these divisions and my faith could be that of Paul I would like more assurance from God but it is what I choose for myself because I believe it is most just and seems right according to my opinion of the gospels
Since the East, shattered as it is by the long-standing feuds, subsisting between its peoples, is bit by bit tearing into shreds the seamless vest of the Lord, woven from the top throughout, John 19:23 since the foxes are destroying the vineyard of Christ, Song of Songs 2:15 and since among the broken cisterns that hold no water it is hard to discover the sealed fountain and the garden inclosed, Song of Songs 4:12 I think it my duty to consult the chair of Peter, and to turn to a church whose faith has been praised by Paul. I appeal for spiritual food to the church whence I have received the garb of Christ. The wide space of sea and land that lies between us cannot deter me from searching for the pearl of great price. …
My words are spoken to the successor of the fisherman, to the disciple of the cross. As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with none but your blessedness, that is with the chair of Peter. For this, I know, is the rock on which the church is built!
St Jerome
But you say, the Church was founded upon Peter: although elsewhere the same is attributed to all the Apostles, and they all receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the Church depends upon them all alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen so that when a head has been appointed, there may be no occasion for schism.
St Jerome
It seems Jerome and maybe other church fathers believed the successor of Peter had a role to heal the divisions of the church on his faith he was supposed to say the true faith for the others but he did not always and was either not infallible or he may know the truth and purposely choose to teach error. Rome had no major problems of any heresy at that time so it had no stain or blemish
Cyprian even says heresy can not be taught by Rome but he believed pope Stephen believed in heresy even if he changed his mind later it is clear he did not believe heresy could not come about only that it would always be overcome by a better intention Pope or the church at Rome. But the church fathers may have believed the church is built on the faith of Peter which the chair of peter has the role to make sure they teach the true faith which all must accept to be in the church and hence not deserting the chair of Peter which is to believe in the essentials and introducing a heresy in the nature of Christ is an attack on the essentials and Jerome felt if one is forced to accept a formula more nuanced which may subtly be a heresy which you do not agree with or know then he risks perverting the faith and feared being outside of Christ being outside the church so he sought Rome guidance but if he simply did not accept any as an authority on specifics or claim to know but did not doubt Jesus is the Son of God but sought to learn better how God is made up in more specifics I believe he is still Christian
He believed anyone who would eat the Eucharist without being in the church would perish but he may not only mean only those who were ordained by Catholic clergy but those who share the true faith of Christian essentials that the pope had role to teach to make sure they agree with essentials
So many early fathers could also be orthodox I believe some were strictly catholic later but we don’t know if all the fathers were and there may be some that were orthodox but before Chalcedon do we have any writings of people that disagreed clearly with papal primacy ? I don’t think such can be found so you can only speculate that many of the fathers were either catholic or orthodox if there were it would attack the catholic faith more because orthodox seem to be more biblical which God did not want for God wanted all to have reason to think they are true. Orthodox may also have the support of the fathers but we can’t say more support of the fathers. But as you can not know I believe it is also why God wanted only the bible to be reliable to trust God is for everyone
St. Cyprian on the Church and the Papacy
" ...they dare even to set sail...to the chair of Peter and the principal Church [at Rome], in which sacerdotal unity has its source...whose faith was praised by the preaching Apostle, and among whom it is not possible for perfidy [errors or perversion of faith] to have entrance." (Epistle 59:14)