It's not the lay people who make the rules [canons] of the Catholic Church, but the hierarchy.  THEY make the rules, and levy those laws on the laity.  Meanwhile, for centuries---it was the hierarchy who were the worst violators of those laws.

In the past, very few of the laity KNEW the dirty secrets of the hierarchy.  But that is not the case today.  Being a good Catholic is not keeping every iota of canon law.  It's Loving God and Loving one's neighbor.