is the accusation that Catholics worship Mary a result of a deliberate act of staying in ignorance?

It occurs because of idiocy. Case in point - half the people "answering" this question.

William Brewster - "all nations will call her(Mary) blessed" is FROM THE BIBLE.

Theophil... - "Hail Mary full(not mother) of grace" is also a QUOTE FROM THE BIBLE. Also, check your bible again, because it says that Jesus is AN intercessor, not THE intercessor. He's the only one who can save us, but that's not the same thing.

bj9429 - equal to God? Hell no. I bet Catholics have to tell you that every day, but you never believe them.

That's the problem. It doesn't matter what Catholics really do. It matters what it looks like to them. And to them, bowing and kissing a statue's feet, and praying is worship. I weep for them because they think prayer qualifies as worship. If that's all they've done to worship, then they've never once truly worshiped God in their entire lives. They don't understand and they don't want to, because they enjoy wallowing in ignorance too much.

It's very easy to mistake parts of the Catholic faith as "Mary worship." I read somewhere that Catholics pray to Mary as Jesus's representative. For other Christians, however, who pray directly to Jesus, saying Hail Marys and lighting candles in front of Mary figurines does appear somewhat like worship. Add to this the fact that many Medieval cathedrals have shrines to saints (some cathedrals even display the mummified bodies of their patron saint) and it's no wonder non-Catholics are a little confused about Catholic priorities. :) Throw in some conspiracy theories about the sacred feminine and there you have it! People with utterly false notions about modern Catholicism.

Christian fundamentalists receive their misconceptions about Catholicism in "hand-me-down" fashion. If something is repeated often enough, from generation to generation, it becomes "common knowledge."

I simply tell them that if they attend a Catholic Mass -- the high point of Catholic worship -- they will barely hear Mary's name mentioned at all, and never in a way that approaches worship.

I tell them that if we truly did worship Mary, we would be almost derelict in not worshipping her during Mass. But since we don't worship her, barely mentioning her in Mass isn't just allowed -- it's appropriate.

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As a Protestant, I agree that invoking Mary is not worship. But the love of a mother for her son must point to the Son, not Mom, and there is a tendency to forget that. The Rosary asks Mary to pray for us, describes her as holy, implores her to bring us to Jesus at our death. This is not worship, it's talking to a trusted friend in Heaven, to help you into Heaven.

I realize what you're saying, one big family in life and in death, praying for each other. Fundamentalists make death into a finish line, all you, no help. Calvinists say that God is glorified either way. We are bound for Hell SAVE FOR His intervening grace, which makes one's entry into Heaven the work of the Holy Spirit, not Man, not Saints guiding God's hand in adding or taking away names from the Book of Life.

One of your answerers has given you the key to this. He states "...seems to be a form of worship". SEEMS to be. They are going by appearances. If it "looks like" worship to them, it is therefore worship.

Having been on the evangelical side of the fence for many years, I can speak to this with a bit of insight on their perspective.

For many, prayer equals worship. The words are not only synonymous to them, but also inseparable. What they do not understand (or, in some cases, refuse to accept) is that to pray means simply to ask. It is not used as often in common English speech as it was in centuries past, but a perusal of any present-day court petition will likely find something to the effect of "plaintiff prays for judgment against the defendant ...". I don't think anyone infers from this that the court, or the judge, is being worshipped. Yet even when it is patiently explained that a prayer "to" Mary or a saint is asking for their prayers (as we would ask each other here, and indeed what fundamentalists themselves do -- pray that another Christian petitions the Lord for them), this is not accepted -- solely on the basis of 20th-21st century common usage of the word "pray".

That, plus a definite allergic reaction to any mention of Mary (Maryallergy?) and a complete misunderstanding (as in another rather prolific answerer above) of how doctrines are formalized in the Church -- the Immaculate Conception having been accepted and observed almost from antiquity, not "invented" when it was formally declared as dogma in 1854 -- seem to be at the root of the apparent willful ignorance one sees in regard to the accusation of "Mary worship".

Mary represents the Divine Feminine who has been 'left out' of all equasion by patriarchial systems for over two millenia.

She has been trying to increase Her awareness for centuries, Her 'appearances' at Lourdes, Mexico, Medjugoge plus others) have opened the eyes of many, the message she brings is a pleading one " Return To God".

I was raised a Catholic until my teens & have studied spiritualism since.

Wait a minute... no matter what's your Christian band... the Blessed Virgin Mary play a prominent role in your faith...

The Blessed Virgin Mary must have felt very pleased when she was sexually or spiritually "overcome" like in an orgasmic experience by the power of God the Holy Ghost! She was a teenager in full puberty. She was very eagerly submitting to the advances of the proxy agent Saint Gabriel that God the Holy Ghost sent to fix a deal with her. She didn’t hesitate for one moment to comply with the request of a perfect stranger! So it was not a rape, but more like a hottie young girl's dream to lay God the Holy Ghost come true!.

So it appears that as soon as Saint Joseph leaves the house on an errand and the Blessed Virgin Mary stays home alone, God the Holy Ghost “overcomes” her in a most divine copulation of unprotected sex ever recorded in religious history resulting in a positive pregnancy. She was never married to God the Holy Ghost! Saint Joseph is not the legitimate father of the Baby God the Son Jesus Christ! So what does that make Jesus, but a Holy b-a-s-tard? There are plenty of vulgar words that we can use to describe him, but since the Early Church Fathers came up with the brilliant idea to bestow on Mary the title of Perpetual Virginity nobody would dare to call Jesus any vulgar name! So no matter what kind of sexual relation she might have had with God the Holy Ghost MARY’S VIRGINITY WAS NEVER COMPROMISED.

Today, God the Holy Ghost would have landed in jail, but in those days it was very common for young girls to blame any questionable pregnancy on a deity of some sort. That is why none of the Early Church Fathers ever questioned the "virgin" birth. They claimed that a lot of Jewish girls were eagerly expecting to mother the God Messiah, but that only Mary was the lucky one! She kept it a secret from Saint Joseph for 6 months! When he found out that she was getting big with child he was going to dump her. The Virgin Mary assured him that she was going to be the mother of God. Fortunately Saint Joseph had a dream that same night confirming her statement so he kept her! Most Christians believe that the Saint Joseph – Blessed Virgin Mary marriage was never consummated. Today Saint Joseph is the Guardian Saint Protector of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Perpetual Virginity and the Saint Protector of all the Christian believers in the World!

Because of the Holy Trinity connection, the Blessed Virgin Mary became recognized as the Mother of God conceived without the “original sin”™. Always virgin! Her hymen was not torn neither during the intercourse with God the Holy Ghost, nor during pregnancy or at delivery! She is defined as a “Perpetual Virgin”. That is a miracle verified by Saint Salome to the fullest satisfaction of Christianity! Nobody can prove any abuse! In 1950 it became a Church dogma that she ascended bodily into Heaven! Now she is officially the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of God! I don’t believe that she would be complaining about any statutory rape or abuse…!!! God compensated her beyond her wildest dreams!

i used to be catholic and i can say that there was no worship of mary or saints.

You must be kidding.

If the papists and romanists do not worship Mary... what then is

971 "All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs. . . . This very special devotion . . . differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration."

http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p6.h...

Why is Mary the Advocate and Mediatrix?

969 "This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation .... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."

http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p6.h...

I think people are individuals. I choose to believe the ones who say they do not venerate Mary. But I don't think those individuals can honestly speak for the entire Catholic church in this matter.