I apologize if I came across sternly as that wasn’t my intention.
The truth of Catholicism is straight-forward and politically incorrect. The Baltimore Catechism is completely in line with this concept. During the time the Baltimore Catechism was in its “prime” the Church actually had more converts. Your right though that the Church didn’t have as many reverts during this time. It didn’t have to though, as very, very few left the Church during those times.