I don't know that it matters. I see Catholic folks kneel before statutes of Mary and Jesus all the time.
I assume you're Catholic. Haven't you? 
I don't know that it matters. I see Catholic folks kneel before statutes of Mary and Jesus all the time.
I assume you're Catholic. Haven't you?
I have no doubt that there are some Catholics who have a superstitious regard for statues. (I have never actually met any.) In this, they would be distorting or even denying the Catholic faith.
However, kneeling before a statue doesn't in itself mean worshipping a statue, any more than saluting a flag or kissing a love letter means worshipping cloth or paper.
Gestures of honor and reverence must be evaluated according to the customs and intentions of the person making the gesture. Leave custom and intention out of your purview, and you lose all possibility of right judgment.
I googled Apparitions Birmingham and came up with the information that this is Caritas, a Medjuogorje-promoting group.
First of all, this is a cult, with no ties either to the diocese of Birmingham or to any lay movement recognized by Rome.
Second, this article, if anything, downplays the weirdness of this outfit. They are by no means "fundamentalist," if by that term you mean adhering to basic doctrine and discipline. They're apparently pretty notorious, since even the Medjugorje people in former Yugoslavia --- themselves a highly dubious group who have operated from the git-go in a position of defiance against their own bishop ---don't want anything to do with them.
Third, the article says, "Although the church has not authenticated the visions (in former Yugoslavia), the Vatican permits religious pilgrimages to Medjugorje." Not so: the church explicitly forbids official (diocesan) pilgrimages there. Caritas --- the Birmingham organization --- is the biggest outfit in the USA organizing Medjugorje pilgrimages.
Orec (pastor in Medjugorje) wrote, "Regarding this I wish to inform you that we have nothing to do with them and we have notified them to cease their activities. If either is still doing this he is acting on his own."
Plus "Caritas has absolutely no connection with the Diocese of Birmingham. There are no canonical links."
"In a letter that Ed Locks received in January, James Frances Stafford, a Catholic cardinal based in Rome, expressed concern for the families who have children at Caritas. He also said Caritas has no chance of being recognized as a lay organization in the Roman Catholic church.
(You could have figured this out on your own in about 10 minutes by googling the info., or even by reading the BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD, but nevermind: glad to oblige.)
What I said in a previous post about "the disobedient, the dissenters, and the dingbats" applies in spades to Caritas/Birmingham. If you find their activites disgusting, welcome to the club.