I have never met a Catholics who ever studied the word on their own.
And the one I knew who did study the word, did it in a Bible study led by a priest, so everything is vetted through the priest first.
I never met....and the one I did meet...O.K.
before you erroneously gave up on Catholicism, you should have looked much deeper into the church teachings (very easy to do) there is a 2,000 year history of success in Christianity in the Catholic church. Without glitches, of course not, entirely operated by humans, all good humans?, not a chance, but overall, protected by the promise to watch over her and be with her until the end of time. To be born in the 20th century, have some knowledge of the history of Christianity, and then decide that you, as an individual could rewrite the whole show and venture off on your own route to salvation strikes me as more than arrogant...but ABSOLUTELY DANGEROUS.