I was raised Catholic and had the misfortune of going to a Catholic school, so I can give you the reasons they believe these things.
To start off, I know nothing about eastern Orthodox Catholic beliefs
Catholics believe you're not praying to the saint or whatever, but praying through them. What they hate is praying to stuff. (I know, confusing and makes little sense)
Probably the answer would be "artist interpretation". One religion teacher (literally studied Catholic theology) I've also had said something along the lines of "Adam and Eve likely weren't really the first humans, they were just a representation of something" (sorry I couldn't be clearer, I never paid attention)
It's interesting how catholicism is both monotheist and polytheist in a sense, there's only one god but you still pray to all those saints to act on God's behalf. There are so many "pagan" rites and beliefs that got somehow absorbed into the faith over time, it's truly an amalgam of old Indo-European religions.
Also to your second point, I'm pretty sure they meant that Genesis is poetical symbolism as opposed to a literal historical account, which seems to be what most denominations nowadays that aren't completely cuckoo crazy agree on, the Catholic church included.
As an ex catholic, there's a lot of hiding behind the veil of time.i haven't read a lot of apologia and learned catechism when I was 15. Shits vague and blurry to me now, but I remember a feeling that the answers were long winded and not satisfactory. I should read Aquinas and some modern apologia, but epicurus' paradox really sums up the beginning of my journey into looking into all the bullshit.
On the switch from literal to metaphor interpretation of the Bible, I think science has penetrated deep enough into nature that is just foolish to keep fighting it. The drought/ flood isn't because God is punishing you for not believing/ praying enough. Here's models and data, worlds on fire and getting worse.
That article almost read like a satire article. A teenager impressed some old people with a computer and now he's being made a saint. I too had computer skills in 2006 and also never get laid. What do I get for it?
During his brief life, Acutis created a website cataloging each Eucharistic miracle in the world and listing approved Marian apparitions of the Catholic Church.
He made a list and they call him a computer genius. Not the Onion material.