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Questions / Mary and the saints

Do Catholics worship Mary?

Church teaching

Answered on video by Fr. Gregory Pine, OP on Pints with Aquinas

Video: Do Catholics WORSHIP Mary? w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, OP, Matt Fradd, published Oct 11, 2021. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: No. Worship belongs to God alone. Honoring Mary is a different thing entirely. CCC 971

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

The Church honors Mary with special devotion, and this devotion “differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit.” CCC 971

Worship is owed to God alone. CCC 2096

Our words

No. Catholics honor Mary the way you’d honor someone’s mother, and ask her to pray for them. Worship is for God alone, and any Catholic who mixes those up has it wrong.

Next step: Mary, honored by both

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Related questions

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Sources on this page

How we know · 2 Catechism paragraphs
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 971, 2096 (official text on vatican.va).

Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words and cites every teaching claim. Our own wording is not an official Church text. Found a mistake? Report an errorCorrections.