re: Can you be Catholic without agreeing with the pope?

How many modern Catholics actually and truly thought about and believe in the transubstantion of the Eucharist?

I assume all of us. That's kind of a big one.

I’m Catholic, and ironically it was watching Christian broadcasting with their emphasis on the Bible that got me to return to my faith after decades of not going to mass. One thing that the Baptists on Christian TV got me to do was take not communion, because I don’t believe in confessing my sins to man, but rather to God in my prayers.
Some of those in Christian broadcasting were very anti-Catholic, think Kenneth Copeland.

I told a few Catholic acquaintances that it was Catholic-hating fundamentalists that brought me back to my Catholic faith.

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You can still call yourself a Catholic, follow Catholic teachings, doctrines,etc.; but depending on how strongly and publicly you oppose the pope, the church might not see it that way.

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This is why Bishop Strickland got demoted. He basically straight up called Pope Francis a heretic.

While Strickland is correct, you cannot openly and publicly cause this type discord in the Church. Other Bishops have been excommunicated for with good reason for trying to create schism. Schism will make you a Protestant.
Not believing in the Dogma's of the Church will just make you no longer Catholic.

Honestly, the Dogma's are pretty easy to follow to me.

So they created their own and left it up to the individual to interpret

duplicate; error message

If this is about the same-sex couple blessing thing, I think this is a situation where what the Pope actually said has been misunderstood, and his teaching isn't out of line with Catholic doctrine. As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has stated:

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In his letter, the pope insisted marriage is an "exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to conceiving children," which is why the church "avoids all kinds of rites or sacramentals that could contradict this conviction and imply that it is recognizing as a marriage something that is not."

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A person who asks for God's blessing, the declaration said, "shows himself to be in need of God's saving presence in his life and one who asks for a blessing from the Church recognizes the latter as a sacrament of the salvation that God offers."

The church, it said, should be grateful when people ask for a blessing and should see it as a sign that they know they need God's help.

"When people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it. For, those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection," it said.

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LINK

As an example, imagine that I, as a heterosexual man, am living with and having a sexual relationship with a woman who isn't my wife. If we both ask a priest for a blessing, the priest can bless me, her, or both of us at the same time, as we seek God's help in living righteously.

The priest can't bless us "as a couple" because what we're doing is sinful, and you can't bless sin. The same applies to two people of the same sex in a similar situation.

Now as to whether the Pope said what he said with the intention of being misunderstood, I'll leave that to others. I hope that isn't the case.

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No. They just started reading the Bible and going by the word of God was all.

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Well, this leads to a major difference between the two branches: Can everything that a person needs to know about God, salvation, and how to live a Christian life be found in the Bible, or did the apostles also pass down authoritative teachings that weren't necessarily written down?

(2 Thessalonians 2:15 incoming)

So they created their own and left it up to the individual to interpret

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The men that get appointed to lead the church don't make the church. I am a Catholic and don't believe a lot of the shite they tell us. Plus the doctrines have changed throughout my life. Some I believe, some I don't. Cafeteria Catholic? I don't care. I'm Catholic and I'll never not be Catholic.

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You sound offended that someone might label you as not being a true Catholic. Why do you care what label someone puts on you? What does "I'm Catholic" even mean? It sounds like you have your own definition, which is fine, but why get hung up on a label?

You're a human being who has a belief system that is unique to you. That is all.