Do catholics worship objects

Answer 1

In short, NO! Catholics place the Sacred above all else in the world, but Worship only Christ Jesus. The Sacred would be the many forms of God's Love; His Word, His people, His creation, and God's grace. We must not confuse a high regard for these items as worship however. Roman Catholics emphasize community-based worship and the adoration of Christ at the beginning of our weeks. We find the communal aspect of worship much more enriching, as it provides a foundation for our hearts and minds to live out God's call and make the Kingdom of God more imminent here on Earth. Although objects such as a Saint's clothing or the remnants of an ancient altar have great historical value, they are never the focus of our worship. Only God is honored with worship.

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Catholic AnswerThere is a semantic problem here, for protestants, and most people raised in a protestant culture, worship means adoration, as in adoration of God. If you look up worship in an unabridged dictionary you will see that the word originally means acknowledgment of another's worth, dignity, or superior position, as it is still used in England of certain magistrates, etc. There are two forms of "worship" in the Catholic Church, but they are two different words in Latin as they mean two completely different things. Latria is the worship that is given to God:

Latria That supreme homage and religious worship which is due to God alone in acknowledgment of his being our Creator, our first beginning and last end, of his sovereign dominion and infinite goodness.. Relative latria is paid to images of the Sacred Heart, to crucifixes, and to such other religious objects as are exclusively connected with a divine person. The homage does not rest in the symbol (that would be idolatry), but goes to the associated Person. Latria differs from hyperdulia an dulia not in degree but in kind, accordingly as their objects are respectively the Creator and the creature.

Dulia and Hyperdulia is the "worship" (actually veneration) given to the angels and the saints because of who they are with regard to God.

Dulia. The reverence and homage paid to saints and angels on account of their supernatural excellence and union with God. To be distinguished from the adoration of God (latria) and the special honour paid to Mary (hyperdulia). Dulia is from the Greek word for servants (of God).

Hyperdulia.

The special homage paid to Mary on account of her supreme dignity as Mother of God, and her consequent unique holiness and nearness to God. It recognizes that she is a creature, and so it differs from latria; but a creature holier and nobler than any angel or saint, and therefore worthy of a greater reverence than the dulia paid to them. It implies a loving reverence for God's mother and ours, and a confidence in her power and benevolence.

Now, an object in Catholic theology is the end or purpose of something; whatever is known, as distince from the knower. Which I don't think is what you are asking, I think when you are asking if Catholics worship objects, you are asking if we give adoration to things as apart from God. The obvious answer is, of course not, that would be making an idol out of somthing. An idol is any creature, figure, representation, or even a person (it may even be yourself) to which you give divine honors. And, of course, this is ridiculous, as divine honor is given to God alone. To treat anthing else as divine with no reference to God would be sheer lunacy.

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from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980Worship. Acknowledgment of another's worth, dignity, or superior position. In religion, worship is given either to God, and then it is adoration, or to the angels and saints, and it is called veneration. Divine worship actually includes three principal acts, namely adoration (or the recognition of God's infinite perfection), prayer or the asking for divine help, and sacrifice or the offering of something precious to God. Worship as veneration also has three principal forms, whereby the angels and saints are honored for their sanctity, asked to intercede before the divine Majesty, and imitated in their love and service of God.

Answer 2

No. Catholics worship God alone. Catholics are the only Christian religion founded by God, Himself - all the others were founded by men - thus Catholics follow the Ten Commandments, and the worship of images is strictly forbidden by the First Commandment.

Answer 3

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Catholic AnswerThat depends entirely on how you are using the word "worship." In twenty-first century America (or really anywhere in the world where they are speaking English these days) I wouldn't use that word, I would say that Catholics venerate images, and have done so throughout history.

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from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Images, Veneration of. Honor paid to representations of Christ and the saints. Their purpose is to adorn, instruct, and excite to piety those who behold, wear, or carry images on their persons. According to the Council of Trent, images of Christ, of the Mother of God, and other canonized saints are to be kept in churches and due honor paid to them not because there is any divinity or power inherent in them as images, but because the honor shown to them is referred to the prototypes they represent. Through the worship and reverence so shown, the faithful really worship Christ and honor the saints whose likenesses they display. In other words, the veneration is relative, always being referred back to the original, never absolute as though the material object is being venerated in and for itself.