Do Catholics Worship the Saints?

Catholics are often accused of worshiping the saints. Defenders of the faith will often play on complicated word definitions to prove that they do not. Sadly, this kind of defense is necessitated by Protestant groups saying that the catholics worship idols and pray to their statues. I am not Catholic and do not know well enough to know what Catholics do in their churches, but it seems this kind of defense should be unnecessary.

Pagans often point out that the Catholic Church in its earlier days often converted the gods of the polytheistic religions of the day in order to attract more worshipers. The Catholic Church has responded to this criticism by removing those saints who had Pagan origins in recent years. However, I think the Catholics rather than saying they do not worship the gods should realize that there is more than one definition of the word worship.

Much like I turn to the dictionary to define Mormons as polytheists (although it is true they only worship one god), the matter of whether or not Catholics worship the Saints should be decided in the same manner. If we go to Miriam Webster's site, we find three meanings when worship gets used a s a verb. The first means to honor as a divine being or supernatural power, the second to regard with extravagant honor, respect, or devotion, or to perform or to take part in a worship service as an intransitive verb.

Most critics of the Catholic practice of praying to the saints focus on the first definition and say that they revere the saints as supernatural beings. The process of sainthood does not confirm divine status on a sainted individual. A disembodied spirit capable of performing miracles may fit this definition, but if I understand the doctrine at all, which I may not, the power of the saints is not their own, but rather one that comes from God. Since it is religion and not science we are dealing with here, we must assume that if spirits exist, they are part of the natural world, and not a supernatural phenomenon.

The second definition, however, definitely fits and was the original intent of the sainthood process in the first place, to honor individuals who were examples of how people should live their life such as St. Francis of Assisi. Sadly, however, the whole debate only centers on Christians criticizing other Christians. The Catholics may or may not pray to the statues, but even so, there should not be a problem with this. It only matters if the critics of the church are right. No one is arguing what had for the longest time been the sole branch of Christianity in the West has a less than clean history, but no other group has a pristine history, either. What should be the societal test is whether overall the Roman Catholic Church is a force for good or evil in the world. Even Dan Brown's book, the DaVinci code acknowledged that much good was provided by the charitable works of the largest Christian denomination in the world today.

So, rather than than the apologists saying their church does not worship the saints, why not just point out the multiple definitions and need to be clear, or more importantly, stress the more important words of Christianity's founder and how your religion lives up to them. This probably works for all religions, and not just the Roman Catholics.