I think we're seeing a scenario play itself out with the office of St. Peter had Judas stayed on to help hasten the saint's martyrdom and been elected by those friends of the Sanhedrin to start a new sect from within. Of course back then, the memory of all that Christ did during those times was too fresh and immediate to allow for that to happen but now with barely a faint cultural echo, the time is perfect for the rise of the Judas Popes.