Yes, and he is free to operate that headship through any agents he choses.
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17-19)The "keys to the kingdom" are a specific reference to the office of the Master of the Palace, i.e. vicar, in Isaiah 22:15-25. To reject the authority given to Peter and his successors by Jesus Christ is to reject Jesus Christ himself.When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”* He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep." (John 21:15-17)
Prayer is to be directed towards God alone.
Worship yes, prayer no. Nowhere in the Bible does it forbid asking those in Heaven to pray for us. Paul asks others to pray for him: "at the same time, pray for us, too, that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak of the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, as I must speak."(Colossians 4:3-4). Asking prayers of others does not offend God. Nor is there any injunction against asking for the prayers of those in Heaven. To say otherwise is just an attempt to impose Protestant opinion.
Veneration is to be directed towards God alone.
Again, worship yes, veneration no. Even God commands us to honor our parents. It is an act of calumny (and thus the sin of bearing false witness) to confuse worship and veneration.
People are made saints by faith in the Person and work of Christ alone.
This goes to the error of sola fide, which is nowhere to be found in the Bible. The arguments against it well known so there is no need to repeat them here.
In the end, what appears at first sight to be Biblical attacks against the Catholic understanding of the saints is nothing more than non-Biblical Protestant opinion.
Actually it DOES forbid it. It is called necromancy. It is also called divination, sorcery and spiritism, and is condemned by God in Leviticus, Dueteronomy, and other places. It is impossible to reach the dead, and if some sort of contact is made, it is contact with demons. When I was a catholic, it was made to look sweet and innocent, but no matter how innocent it seems, it is evil, and leaves people open to demonic influence. Paul asked people to pray for him, but only them who were still alive on the earth. Once they were dead, he stopped asking them. None of us should ask the dead to pray for us. First, they might be in Hell, but we don't want to pray to demons, because they are the only ones who will answer you. You may not like this, That's on you. You have the information,
If this is what veneration looks like before body parts retrieved from the grave....as we've been told it is time and again...., bowing , bending of the knees and hands together in a prayerful manner.......then what does catholic worship look like?????