It is true that the Bile used to be pretty much locked away from people and the Catholic Church admits that was BAD. And I have observed that a lot of professing Catholics who love Jesus dearly have somewhat of a handicap in the area of Biblical knowledge. The Church is trying to remedy this situation. They know that to ignore Scriptures is to ignore Christ as our Bishop said. And they do teach that Bible was totally inspired by the Holy Spirit of God who is it's author. They just have a claim to putting it together in a text format to be read from.They do not claim the Church WROTE it. The early church only went through a bunch of proposed versions of the New Testament and it was after much discussion and prayer that the final content was decided upon.
Pope John Paul II said "Every Christian must refer always and everywhere to the Scriptures for all his choices, becoming like a child before it, seeking in it the most effective remedy for all his various weaknesses and not daring to take a step without being illuminated by the divine rays of those words". Sounds to me like the Roman Catholic Church has deep reverence and love for the Word of God and advocates total reliance on the Word.
As far as "works" go, we are reminded every Sunday that Salvation is a gift from God and we cannot achieve it through our own effort. But we are also aware what it says in James that faith and actions must work together , that faith without works is dead ( Jm 2:26) We are encouraged to display our faith in Christ through our deeds but we know that our ability to produce fruit comes also through the Grace of God.
And we also teach that the Holy Spirit is the interpreter of Scripture.
It is very sad that Christians just hang at each others' throats, holding on to mistakes and crimes committed centuries ago. Those crimes and erroneous teachings that mislead so many people long ago should not have happened but they did. But we should all just strive to press on, forgetting what lies behind, just like Paul said "Brothers,I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"( Phil, 3:13-14).....
No denomination will ever have perfect 100% holy leaders. There will always be someone who will backslide into sin, or even someone who will willingly lay down the God's armor and the only offensive weapon they have which is the sword of the Spirit, the Holy Word of God. Many are called but only few are chosen.
Yes, I agree that some Church leaders should spend more time walking the streets healing the sick like their predecessors did instead of wasting time on over-analyzing other denominations. We are to "let our light shine before men that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in Heaven" ( Mth, 5:16). I doubt anyone gets inspired to praise God and give Him glory for all the wonderful things he did, for giving us our precious Savior Jesus Christ by reading complaints and critiques or long intellectual looking essays.
....It is also sad that the Catholic Church in Europe is so out of touch with the Holy Spirit. Yes, a lot of churches stand empty. But the Catholic Church in America practices spiritual warfare, and operates in the gifts of the Holy Spirit with healings and everything.
I am a Catholic and ever since I became one I've been growing closer and closer with God and my knowledge of the Scriptures is growing also. I hope and pray for my faith and wisdom to increase so I can fully cooperate with the Power of the Holy Spirit in my life and do great things for God and bring Him glory.