Yes, we venerate (honor) Mary and the saints. We do not worship them. Worship is reserved for God alone.
The Immaculate Conception is important to Catholics because of Mariology, the extreme veneration of Mary. It is not important to Protestants, who reject the veneration of saints.
God is the most high. You give more.
Roman Catholic AnswerThe "cult of saints" is from the Latin word "cultus" which means The act of honoring or worshipping, reverence, adoration, veneration; loyalty (from Wiktionary). The cult of saints refer to the veneration of the saints.
Veneration. hierolatry
Yes, the Council of Trent reaffirmed the veneration of saints and the Virgin Mary as important aspects of Catholic belief and practice. It emphasized the intercessory role of saints and Mary in prayers, while also condemning any worship that detracts from the adoration due to God alone.
Veneration of saints is the process of giving honor to those saints in heaven. It may be a single saint or a number of saints or, as on November 1, all the saints in Heaven. It is not a worship of saints. Worship is due only to God. It is recognizing them for their lives and accomplishments while on earth. It is much the same as the honor shown to people such as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.
An icon is a flat panel painting depicting Jesus, Mary, saints and angels which is an object of veneration. This form of Christian veneration became widespread in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. It also reached the western part, but did not become widespread like in the eastern part.
One of the reasons for the Protestant Reformation was the belief that praying in front of statues of Mary and other saints is too reminiscent of idolatory, and ought to be unnecessary if God is omniscient. Mariology, the extreme veneration of Mary, was called into question long before the Reformation as being akin to polytheism.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Queen of Saints.
They become saints when they enter Heaven. If they have lived a saintly life on earth they may be considered as living saints. The Church may carry out a canonization process to verify that the person is actually in Heaven and worthy of emulation and veneration.
No.
No church 'makes' saints. However, churches may investigate potential saints to verify that they are actually in heaven and then proclaim then as saints and worthy of veneration and emulation. The church best known for proclaiming saints is the Catholic Church but the Orthodox and Anglican Churches have also been known to do so.