Many of us WERE cradle Catholics! I understand fully what Catholics believe. To assert Scriptural proof texts are "always ignored" is flat out wrong AND hypocritical. What I usually see is RC interpretation of snippets of Scripture - if that - and a whole bunch of "tradition" stuffed around it to make it seem to be Biblical. Many times, entire passages of Scripture are ignored by RCs because they know what they say would contradict their own church's teachings. Because I was an RC, I have a heart for those who are searching for the truth of the gospel of the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ - just as I was.
You are wrong.
“...Many of us were cradle catholics...”
They will have more to answer for at the Judgment, since they are now a step beyond material heresy (heresy through ignorance) and are now formal heretics - those who knew and rejected the Truth.
Just because a person doesn’t understand the Truth the first time around doesn’t mean that the Truth isn’t there and it is now OK to embrace late arriving heresies. Many of us did not understand the Truth at first - the 60’s were a time of extremely obscure catechization mixed with pop psychology in many dioceses. The decades after followed suit in many cases. However, the Truth being poorly taught doesn’t cause it to not be the Truth.
I was a cradle catholic who did not understand doctrines correctly until my 30’s when I began to read scripture. Then I was a “re vert”, and did not embrace heresy and instead read further into Catholic apologetics. John Henry Newman is an excellent place to begin.
John 6 clearly refers to the eucharist and cannot be twisted otherwise without mental gymnastics.
Protestants who do not understand Catholic Doctrine have no business trying to address Catholic topics because they do not have the fullness of the Truth. They are blind to the proper meaning of scripture.
2 Peter 1:20 and 2 Peter 3:16 condemns private interpretation
2 Thessalonians 2:14 clearly refers to oral tradition being handed down.
The Jewish people have always taught through word of mouth (tradition) AND the written word. The early Christians did not suddenly change this concept, especially since the bible wasn’t written right away.