“Granted, some of the peasants do go to church with life size statues and can go too far with the concept.”
What did Paul say about doing things that lead your brothers to temptation? Did he encourage it?
To be honest, I don’t remember what Paul said about that right this second, nor do I know that he foresaw life sized statues in the pews with followers.
I think the more simple people seem to need the visual.
As long as they are educated to know that the figure is not anything but a revered reference I see no problem.
We ask all those to maybe pray for us or with us, even those who passed, but only the God gets prayed to.