Less “contending” than voicing what my impression has been over many years of hearing San Antonio Catholics talk about icons, objects of veneration, etc. Now, there may be some “curandero” stuff mixed in there, given the religious history of this area, but that’s certainly the impression I have gotten.
I would have thought you intelligent and educated enough to know that the practices of some Catholics do not represent the teachings of the Church any more than the thousands of Protestants in prison for rape, murder and sex crimes represent the teachings of Protestantism.