Catholics do not understand metaphors..that is why they are catholics
Catholics understand metaphors, similes, parables and allegory as well as reality. We don't just decide which is which based upon the Gestalt of the moment. We have a magisterium that does an exhaustive study of these things as a service to mankind so that we can arrive at a conclusion based upon more than whim. That contributes to what makes us Catholic.
I just don't know how you decide metaphor from parable, from simile, from allegory from reality. It appears that you apply a screening process based upon the utterances of a few Reformists of dubious character and motive and what makes sense in your native language. Watching Protestants clumsily attempt to reconcile Scripture with the Gospels is like studying the path of a ping pong ball. The direction and velocity of the discussion is not determined by some grand scriptural or dogmatic theme or context, it is determined by what ever obstacle was most recently encountered.
Actually, there are evidently literal books.
God seems to LIKE books.