Why do some think that catholics worship saints and Mary?

An impression from observation.

Even watching the Pope on national television, I was left with the impression as he knelt before an image of the "Mother of Jesus"

Addendum: I know that Catholics do not "worship" Mary or the Saints, but the impressions from something like I saw today with regard to the Pope's visit are hard to refute.

It is that "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck..." type of thing.

As a former Catholic I think Catholics if they want to discourage people worshipping saints or praying to them need to remove the kneelers that the have in front of the statues in the churches such as the one I went to. They need to explain why this is wrong but unfortunately they never really spoke about the issue to me. I think they need to discourage people from flocking to the so called weeping or bleeding pictures or statues. This tends to lead people into thinking these objects are in themselves holy. God alone is holy.

Worship in it's original meaning simply means to kiss towards, so when the Pope kisses a statue of Mary, or whatever other crap they do, that's worship. The Catholic church EVEN went as far as to remove the second commandment.

It might have someting to do with some Catholic folk bowing their knees and praying to statues and relics of Mary and the Saints. IN some cases they actually pray to Mary or the Saints.

Prayer is considered a form of worship by most folks I know, so praying to Mary or the Saints might then be considered offering worship to them.

Certainly they are presented in popular culture as praying to them; though from looking at the internet the RC position is that we can pray with them, rather than to them.

However, people may distinguish between the official position stated by the church and the actual practice of its members.

On a recent trip to Ireland it seemed the shrines to (or should that be of) Mary were very prominent. It is also said that in places catholicism is much mixed with superstition. While the priest may not teach it, they do seem to allow it.

I don't know a lot of people who think Catholics actually worship saints and Mary, but it may seem that way to people who don't fully understand the religion. It's pretty well known that Catholicity is a monotheistic religion that worships one God, much like Islam and Judaism.

Protestant faith traditions are not based on authentic Christian theology, but merely on various late day Protestant faith traditions.

That means ANYTHING goes ... or DOESN'T go ... depending on who's particular "divine" protestant inspiration is being tapped, at the moment.

The way the Protestant rules are set up, anybody can believe anything they want, so long as they can somehow use scripture or faith to help justify it ... so long as what they believe isn't TOO Catholic.

For Catholics, who enjoy a 2000 year old tradition of the world's finest and most authentic theological scholarship, going all the way back to Christ and the apostles, this is really not worth worrying about.

If the other guys can't tell the difference between worship and prayer, it's their loss.

You know, I'd like to just clear this up, tell you that we don't worship Saints or Mary, that we look upon them as examples and petition that they intercede on our behalf, that we venerate Mary because of her incredibly important place in the salvation of humanity, and that all of this was both well within the most ancient traditions of the Church, symbols of respect and ways to help the Church embattled to be united with the Church triumphant, as we are one Church.

I'd like to, but I am afraid that anyone who reads it will just give me the typical routine bits about how I'm wrong. Even if I am studying this at the Masters level with some of the best renowned Theologians and Philosophers in the country and possibly in the world.

If ayou actually want to give me the benefit of the doubt, thank you and I appreciate that even if you think I'm wrong, you respect the idea that what I'm telling you may have some value to it. If you do not, well, there's nothing I can do about it, and I accept your criticisms since I made myself available to them.

To my fellow Catholics, hold firm, keep believing, and never give into the desire to show meanness. Just love them all the more. It's the most powerful force that exists in all of creation, and can come from within us.

1. They want to believe negative things about the Catholic Church, to try to justify their founder's rebellion against it.

2. They refuse to consult any authoritative source, like the Catechism of the Catholic Church, because the truth would get in the way of what they want to believe.

3. They read anti-Catholic propaganda from hate mongers like Jack Chick, and believe what he says because it is what they want to hear.

4. They don't know the Bible well enough to realize that what they are saying contradicts God's Word. For example, they say "the saints are dead", when Jesus said "those who follow me will never die".

I went to Catholic schools. Prayers addressed to Mary and various saints were very common. Apparently there's a huge difference between that and worship, but I'm buggered if I can see it.