Catholic theology
Catholic belief holds that the church exists both on earth and in heaven simultaneously, and thus the Virgin Mary and the saints are alive and part of the living church. Prayers and devotions to Mary and the saints are common practices in Catholic life. These devotions are not worship, since only God is worshiped. The church teaches that the saints "do not cease to intercede with the Father for us. ... So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."
Catholic Church in Romania
The Catholic Church (, , ) in Romania is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The administration for the Latin Church is centered in Bucharest, and comprises two archdioceses and four other dioceses. It is the second largest Romanian denomination after the Romanian Orthodox Church, and one of the 16 state-recognized religions. Overall data for 2011 indicated that there were 870,774 Romanian citizens adhering to the Catholic Church (4.3% of the population). Of these, the largest groups were Hungarians (approx. 500,000, including Székely and Csángó), Romanians (approx. 300,000), Germans (approx. 20,000) and Slovaks (approx. 9,000).