Quote Originally Posted by Polymirize
how big a role do the various saints and demons play for catholic doctrine?

Seems like they're more into them than the protestants. What's behind that?
If you look throught the catechism of the catholic church you will find very few refrences to demons. most people associate the catholic church with demons because of two reasons 1. hollywood 2. the catholic church on very few occasions since vatican II have preformed exorcisms. in reality its more the ever present temptation of the devil cause by original sin that is extremly common. I attended weekly masses for over 16 years and on only a few occasions did the priest mentions demons

saints are a different thing all together. a saint is a person that lived their lives in the true sense of being catholic they were the most prominant examples of the religion and they were reconised as it. many saints were martyrs or faced oppression or descrimination others were just truly wonderful people that showed the essence of the faith

saints are very important in that we belive as all people in heaven look out for us that is why its common to hear catholics praying to saints like saint anthony, michael the archangel, raphael the healer and such