The Holy Father concluded with the prayer he raised on that historic day 20 years ago.Any well-informed Roman Catholic will tell you that the official doctrine is that a Christian can only adore the images of saints such as Mary, not worship them. You are not supposed to pray to St. Mary for objective X, because Mary is not God. Rather, you pray to St. Mary that she will pray to God on your behalf to obtain objective X. Whether such prayers are a good idea is debatable, but it is not idolatry-- rather it is like asking a friend to pray for you,the only difference being that St. Mary is dead and does not know you personally."Mother of Christ," he said, "may the infinite salvific power of the Redemption be revealed once again in the history of the world: power of merciful Love! May it put a stop to evil! May it transform consciences! May the light of hope be revealed to all in your Immaculate Heart!"
In practice, though, this quickly degenerates to what even the Pope did: praying to St. Mary for objective X, and cutting God out entirely. And that is idolatry.
[in full at 04.03.25b.htm ]
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