I have two friends of mine that came to Church with me and were raised in a catholic church and catholic school. They would not read a Bible because they told me they were taught not to read it.
If I had a dime every time someone said, "I had a friend who used to be Catholic and s/he was told not to read the Bible...."
This is an urban myth. Ranks up there with the liver collector and the shoes hanging from the street light. I don't doubt that there may be a handful of Catholics who never really paid attention in church, and for that reason, don't know what their church teaches, even though they went to mass every Sunday. But I PROMISE you, NO CATHOLIC PRIEST has EVER told someone not to read the Bible.
In fact, there is more Scripture read during a typical Catholic Mass than in any evangelical service I've ever been to. At most, the preacher in an evangelical service might read a chapter, and that's pushing it ... usually he reads only a few verses from one book, and then preaches on that. In the Catholic Mass, we read not one, not two, not three, but FOUR different passages: one usually from the Old Testament Law or Prophets (though sometimes you get Acts or Revelation in there), one Psalm, one from an Epistle, and one from the Gospels. And that doesn't include all the parts of the mass ordinary that are from Scripture.
And don't even get me started on the farce that so many protestant churches have of starving their parishioners, serving communion only once a month, or even less often. You accuse priests of wielding too much authority, because they can retain the sins of others or forgive the sins of others (which is only what Jesus commanded) .... but at least they don't withhold Jesus' own body and blood from all parishoners just because it's inconvenient to have communion every week. Sheesh.
They were confused as to why the Preacher was saying that Jesus Christ is the blood atonement and that he lived a perfect sinless life and is the spotless lamb that was prophesied to come. They told me that they had been taught that Jesus was a sinner just like you and me because of an affair with Mary Magdelane ...
I got news for you. IF this actually happened, and you're not just making it up, and IF your friends weren't just pulling your leg, then they were NOT Catholic, no matter what they said. The Catholic Church has NEVER taught that Jesus was "a sinner just like you and me." The ONLY church I ever heard such claptrap from was a Presbyterian church. Can't get more protestant than that.
I feel like they were just more confused since they had been so indoctrinated by lies.
Like the ones you're telling now?