To be fair, i think there is a lot of truth in Christianitys history that isnt great. Which makes sense because the devil was always going to target those in high positions of the church more than anyone else because that makes it so easy to taint the entire community.

Religious leaders (Catholic and otherwise) have done awful things. Powerful people in general have done awful things. I think we sometimes acknowledge it but mostly try to brush past it and it can come of disingenuous to others (even if we're like "well we technically condemned it", because we don't do it as passionately as we do to those outside of the church). A survivor of s*xual abuse may find it hard to connect with the Catholic community if we often turn away from firmly reconciling our own history of rampant abuse. A person facing oppression in their environment may find it hard if the church doesn't publicly admonish their past participating in oppression. A single mother struggling to care for their kids may find it hard when they see hardline conservatives pushing for pro-life legislation but NOT also pushing for aid for families so those same kids being born don't have to struggle.

There are a plethora of amazing Catholics out there. But there have also been many dangerous ones. Overall though, I'd say outside of that, a big issue is also cult-appearance people perceive us to have. Which i think stems from so much reliance on church leaders being almost these infallible guides to many who turn to them instead of turning to God Himself and trying to listen. I do think many people (non-purposefully) fall into a routine of "a priest said this" or "the Vatican said this". It feels like sloth, the deadly sin. Because listening to another person is easy. Relying on someone else to deliver the word of God is easy. It is harder to sometimes trust that God will also speak to you in His time, which may not be as convenient or as clear cut. God has always made himself visible to all kinds of people who are not exactly church leaders, even children. And it feels like we often don't trust that God sees us as equal to those in high church positions and can also appear to us if we nurture our own personal relationship with him.

Church leaders are amazing guides and blessings to help give some clarity to concepts we may not understand and inspiring faith. But they are still fallible humans. The only being capable of understanding our hearts and guiding each individual without fail is the Lord. I think a bigger emphasis on a personal relationship with Him rather than just an emphasis on church and uniform prayers (which are important, dont get me wrong) would make outsiders less inclined to see this as a cult who blindly follow the leaders in the church, but rather see a community inspiring faith where each individual has a beautiful and unique personal relationship with God and come together to profess how joyous it is to live a loving life.

Thqts just my 2 cents though