I suspect the misunderstanding here is that Catholics do see Mary as elevated -- though not nearly so much as and only in virtue of her Son. Perhaps we "elevate" Mary more than Protestants do Christ -- but it's not more than we honor Christ!
One can fool some of the people most of the time . . . and maybe most of the people some of the time . . .
But that dog just won’t hunt.
The observable behaviors are wholesale otherwise on the part of a sizable chunk of RC’s the world over and particularly in some countries.
And, actually, to my view, for a chunk of folks hereon, IF observables have any congruence with reality at all.
See Maryz, no matter what a billion Catholics believe in their heart, what’s important is what a clique of anti-Catholic bigots CLAIM Catholics believe. All else is dross.