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Of course the Pope prays to Mary. I also pray to Mary. But neither of us worships her.

Prayer is a part of worship.

No where in the Bible, which the ECFs and the RCC claims to be final authority, do we have any example, admonition, command, hint, suggestion, etc, to pray to Mary or elevate her to the status that the RCC has done.

Scripture doesn't contain the sum total of all information in the universe. For example, it doesn't contain the Quantum Theory of Chromodynamics, to the best of my knowledge. It doesn't even clearly tell me what prayers to say, much less exclude any particular entities who should not be the object of prayers.

Praying to Jesus' mother-- of course, that's permitted (and expected). It's just too obvious to be stated explicitly (except possibly as implied by one of the Ten Commandments). Perhaps the human authors of Scripture didn't anticipate anyone could be so blind as to not avail themselves of the opportunity.

Ealgone, I think what's happening here is that you're not discerning different levels of honor.

If you were to see the Marines in their Dress Blues do a flag ceremony (raising the colors, presenting of the colors, etc.) you would agree that it is ritual which shows reverence.

But we 21st Century Americans are not living in a culture which has a wealth of ritual, and an elaborate code of forms of honor. This is a pity; in this we are much poorer than many other cultures. We tend to see two ends of the spectrum --- vulgar, cheap and banal on one end, and religious adoration on the other ---- and nothing in-between. No continuum, no gradations.

When I was a child, we were taught to get to our feet if an older person came into the room. Can you believe that? We said "Yes, sir" and "Yes ma'am" and did not call adults by heir first name. But no more.

But that's why anything that isn't common and banal tends to get misinterpreted as worship. Because we don't have anything near an adequate culture of legitimate, recognized "intermediate honors" for parents, grandparents, elders, teachers, judges and doctors, let alone angels and saints.