Roman Catholics ceased to be a church and viewed themselves as a country (or state) in the Middle Ages. Arguably one could trace the start of this back to the fall of Rome in the 5th century and was accelerated in 1000AD when the Eastern Orthodox rebelled against the Catholic control.
The Roman Catholics didn't view themselves as an institution as much as a country. The Roman Catholic Church's goal was to become the "one" country in which all countries would pay tribute to them. This was not unlike the Soviet Union concept of satellite countries. They wrote books about this. They fought wars over it. They codified much of their theology around this purpose (e.g. Pope is the final word, one can only find grace through the Eucharist dispensed by the Church, people who don't belong to the Church are lost, etc.). They even had their own civil war and they have their own ambassador.
Today, thanks to God's intervention and faithful Protestants who risk all, the word of God has persevere. Much of the dogmas of the Church today are laughable if not downright offensive. Consequently 21st Century Catholics try to explain away these false teachings (e.g. "Catholic dogma doesn't mean what it states", "Protestants can be saved but the only way to receive grace is through the Eucharist", etc.) Catholic theology has become such a muddled mess that it is absolutely no wonder that they've turned to Mary for help. The end result of poor theology is idolatry.
Didn't anyone ever watch the 3 Musketeers? :O)
I only know of SEVEN catholic churches: those found in Revelation.
What ever happened to them?
Which one lead to the creation of the Roman branch?
Let's try some easy math:
There are approximately 1.2 billion Catholics world wide;
If merely 1% of them 'ask' Mary for help just once each day;
that means that 12 million separate prayers are headed Mary's direction every day.
Given that there are 86,400 seconds per day... (24 hours times 60 minutes times 60 seconds)
...that means that Mary has to handle approximately 139 'requests' per second!
Purty good fer someone NOT 'devine'!
I don't see a lot of difference between then and now in how they see themselves.....nor their behavior or arguments regarding their dogma and how they view those outside their “country”.
They missed the mark then and do now IMO..and the popes surround themselves with regalia and pomp as an emperor might to elevate themselves over their “citizens”. It just appears they do what they do then attach Jesus Christ to it all like some sort of seal of approval. He certainly isn't central....with all the figure/idols and pomp to wade through..and all the others they pray to....HE sure gets pushed to the back of the room if there and among at all.