Posted by St.Cyril Fong-Torres at c85223-001.powersurfr.com on August 03, 2001 at 17:07:19:
Catholics aren't polytheists.
They don't worship saints, SOME Catholics just think that if they say a prayer coinciding with, say, John the Baptist, they'll be less likely to be blindsided by Johnny Q. Vodka.
Now, most Catholics I know (like me) don't do this, because you're somewhat right in that it doesn't seem correct to pray 'to' a saint.
But when the old ladies pray to a saint they are just using the saint as a different route to God.
In no way do they hold them in the esteem of a deity.
I'm sorry for posting this but I was all fired up from the whole discussion below and I wanted to parry to Dobbin's thrust...Hmmm... I would've e-mailed it, but then I'd feel like a weirdo with a grudge. Which I am not, I hope. I'm just trying to present why, in my opinion, some Catholics pray 'to' saints.
I'd also like to clarify that by no means am I a militant Catholic, I just wanted to defend the peoples of the past and present who have been persecutted for their Catholicism. Though they're numbers are few, I still felt the need to defend them. And I must admit, I was a tad surprised by some of the rigorous anti-Catholicism around here. I mean, everyone is surely entitled to their opinions, but I can't fathom someone who's not a Satanist hating an organization that FOR THE MOST PART tries to help people in their daily lives.
I mean, I don't hate Buddha.
Sorry again.