Just an fyi for the people who are confused about what the Catholic Church teaches: Prayer of worship (adoration, latria) is directed to God alone (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Saints and Mary are never worshiped. When Catholics "pray to" a saint (e.g., "St. Anthony, pray for us" or the Hail Mary), they are asking the saint to pray for or with them — requesting intercession, just as you might ask a living friend or family member to pray for you. Saints in heaven are not considered "dead" in the final sense. They are alive in Christ (see Mark 12:27 / Luke 20:38: "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living"). This is tied to the communion of saints (mentioned in the Apostles' Creed and Catechism paragraphs 946–962). Catholics explicitly reject necromancy (conjuring spirits of the dead for information or power), which the Bible condemns (Deuteronomy 18:10-12; 1 Samuel 28). They argue their practice is different: no summoning, no seeking secret knowledge, no two-way conversation — simply asking righteous people in heaven (who are closer to God) to join their prayers to God. They also pray for the dead (especially souls in purgatory, according to Catholic doctrine), asking God to have mercy, purify, or forgive them. This is seen as supported by 2 Maccabees 12:38-46 (a book Catholics include in Scripture but most Protestants do not), where Judas Maccabeus prays and offers sacrifices for fallen soldiers so they might be "loosed from their sins." Now I will await the bombardment of abuse saying this is wrong. Interestingly, they will say that the Holy Spirit revealed this to them, but will dismiss the idea that the Holy Spirit could have revealed this to the early Church Fathers. Do you see the contradictions there?