Not sure if this the same experience as the person you asked the question of, but I went to Catholic school growing up, altar boy, youth group, the whole works. And I'd consider myself atheist, or agnostic maybe is better. But I call myself "culturally Catholic" because so much of how I grew up is still a part of me: a focus on finding universality in experience ("catholic" christian historically grew out of an attempt to find universality in the christian belief, and I think today amid globalization it still does that remarkably well); an impulse toward social justice; a tolerance of hypocrisy and inconsistency.

And like the prior poster said, many/most Catholics disagree with the Pope--I think something like 85% of American Catholics disagree with the official views on birth control and abortion and homosexuality--but that doesn't stop us from calling ourselves Catholic.

Yeah, most of my mom’s family is like this. They don’t believe in most on the heaven and hell stuff literally but see Catholicism as part of their cultural identity as Irish-Americans

Not at all unusual - though I think of it as more common in Judaism, where the cultural heritage is much more important than the religion for many people.

Essentially. I know a bunch in other religions as well as it is their social group.