I am very much aware that the Catholic Church teaching contradicts Jesus’s teachings. That is why I responded with that particular divergence to the challenge to identify where the Catholic Church diverges from scripture.
I not only pray to God - as a person who knows the meaning of the word prayer - I pray to Mary, the saints, and to my fellow Christians. When a Catholic prays TO Mary it is almost the same as when a lawyer in England prays to a judge. It is a request. We are asking her to do something.