The saints are alive in Christ. God is the God of the living, not the dead. Mark 12:27
I'm not disputing that.
There is nothing in the Bible that says we are to pray to dead saints to get them to make appeals to Christ on our behalf.
The Bible does give specific instructions regarding prayer that it is to be directly to God in Jesus Christ's name.
Praying to anyone else contradicts Biblical teaching.
Getting God's ear is not "based on who you know" or "who your friends are" or if you appeal to "someone with a lot of "pull" in heaven" who can "put in a good word for you". Such ideas are not only nonsensical they are heretical. But since they ring true with many humans, even mafia types and corrupt politicians who are "big wheels" in of some of the RC communities, they have been used for centuries to lead millions of congregants astray from the truth. It never ceases to amaze me how sometimes people who are well-known criminals are welcomed to have their weddings and funerals in RC Churches. That continuing practice in and of itself is enough for many people to see just how corrupt the Roman Church must be, that such people would not be excommunicated.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/parishioners-gotti-wouldn-tolerate-virgin-mary-statue-decapitation-article-1.1578589
Excerpt rom the story:
Ozone Park parishioners say John Gotti wouldn't tolerate Virgin Mary statue decapitation
"For justice, they would have gone to the Teflon Don. St. Mary Gate of Heaven parishioners reckon the deceased Gambino crime boss kept things orderly in the neighborhood and the religious icon wouldn't have been ruined in his day."
...
"Church officials discovered the 4-foot statue decapitated last Monday morning, and the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is investigating, officials said.
The Gambino crime boss, who died in 2002, never counted himself as a parishioner at the church — he attended St. Helen’s Roman Catholic Church in Howard Beach — but parishioners recall his bond with the 110-year-old institution, which hosted his daughter Victoria Gotti’s wedding in 1984."