Why Catholics Pray to Saints

The objection is old and serious: one mediator, and a clear scriptural ban on consulting the dead. This is the honest answer: what "pray" meant before the word narrowed, the difference between latria and dulia, and the evidence that the practice is far older than any council. Graffiti under Rome from around AD 260 asking Peter and Paul to intercede, and a third-century papyrus prayer to Mary still in use today. Including where the practice genuinely went wrong, and what the Church's own Council of Trent conceded. 0:00 The wall under Rome 1:29 The objection 2:57 What the words mean 4:43 The argument from death 6:09 How old it is 7:35 Where it went wrong 8:54 What the evidence rules out 10:03 Next time Sources: the graffiti of the Triclia at San Sebastiano, Rome (c. 260); the Sub tuum praesidium papyrus, John Rylands Library, Manchester (3rd-4th c.); early Christian funerary inscriptions; Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae on latria and dulia; Council of Trent, Session 25, on invocation of the saints and on abuses.