That's a common mistake: read the bible. First you need to be catholic, only then you can read the bible without do the same mistake that our protestant brothers do.
One of the biggest event that shaped the modern civilization was the age of enlightenment, the ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Church. [0]
New Ideas such as Democracy, which is a corner stone of modern Western Civilisation, where opposed and denounced by the Catholic Church.
I do recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Church-Built-Western-Civiliz...