Nah, I think it was crooked from the start. The upside down cross.
"Throughout the Gospels, Peter's interactions with Jesus and the disciples reflect a leader who is impulsive, ambitious, self-assertive, and quick to commit without fully understanding the meaning of Jesus' words or actions."
I think it very possible that Peter (a flawed man) developed a church that was flawed. Perhaps Jesus knew that it would be corrupted regardless.
I also think that there is such "veneration" of Mary because of the Jesuits, who were originally Basque occultists that worshiped the goddess Mari, were brought into the fold. Mary sightings seem awfully similar to Mari sightings.
I had a Jesuit priest at my church, now deceased, who had the last name Restrepo. He literally had like the Basque hair. Turns out, Restrepo is a Basque name, and he was actually Basque. He took group trips to Mary sightings QUITE often, mostly to Medugorje. I didn't know he was actually Basque, had to look it up myself.
So Peter was a good guy? I'm not buying that. He was pretty questionable.