Don't you know that the "infallible" Church elected them to stand in the place of Christ on the earth.
Don't you know the "infallible" Church NEVER makes a mistake?
Maybe it wasn’t he man who makes the job; just maybe it was the................popemobile.
http://www.worldcarfans.com/3050610.001/75-years-of-mercedes-benz-popemobile
If he believes in a particular set of doctrines and traditions, then he will follow those as if they were infallible.
If he believes in a religious organization, then he will follow that religious organization as if it were infallible.
If he believes God, then he will follow God Who actually is infallible.
Of course, many will suggest that these can be conflated, but they cannot be; man cannot serve two masters (much less three or four.) One will always reign supreme in his heart and mind. And the one he is trusting is the one to whom he has committed his fate.
On the points raised by fr maximilian mary and Frumanchu - as I have asserted before, Spiritual succession is the only one that matters.
It is entirely possible for an assembly of men once led by God to lose its way even to the point of being rejected by God. Paul warns us of this in Romans 11 (boast not against the branches.) It is also entirely possible for that very same assembly to be once again restored by God. (also Romans 11)
But in every case, it is God's will that matters. He gives the Holy Spirit according to His will, not ours.
So, in my point of view, those rough spots in the history of the Catholic Church do not bother me - nor do the bright spots impress me. Only God matters.