Church teaching distinguishes adoration of God from veneration of Mary and the saints

The Catholic Church draws a clear distinction between adoration and veneration. Adoration is directed to God alone, while veneration is offered to the Virgin Mary and the saints. The distinction is essential to understanding Catholic piety, and it rests on what God has done in the saints and through them.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines adoration as "the first act of the virtue of religion." To adore God is to acknowledge him as Creator, Savior and Lord of everything that exists. The act involves absolute respect and submission, and it allows people to free themselves from idolatry.

Catholic theology has developed specific terms to clarify the distinction. Latria is the adoration reserved to God alone. Dulia is the honor given to the saints. Hyperdulia is the particular veneration given to Mary because of her singular role in the history of salvation.

Put simply, Catholics imitate the saints and adore God. They ask the saints for their intercession, and they offer God their hearts, their obedience and full worship. Pope Benedict XVI said the Church venerates Mary as Mother of God because she "gave flesh to the Son of the eternal Father."

To glorify the Son is to honor the Mother, and the reverse is also true. Genuine Marian devotion does not stop at Mary but always leads to Jesus Christ. Love for the Mother of God takes nothing away from what belongs to the Son. Benedict XVI said that "to venerate the Mother of Jesus in the Church means learning from her to be a community that prays."

Confusion on this point often comes from looking only at the outward gesture and reducing everything to appearances. The Catholic faith clearly distinguishes the worship offered to God from the honor paid to his "friends." A photograph is not loved for itself but for the person it shows, and in the same way the use of sacred images does not amount to idolatry.

The Church does not adore wood, plaster or paint. It honors Christ, Mary and the saints represented in those images, and directs everything to God. Mary does not take God's place; she teaches people to believe in the Lord, to pray to him and to obey him.