My Way News - Pope prays to musical accompaniment in new CD
My Way News reports: "Benedict sings a hymn and recites prayers to the Virgin Mary in various languages, including Italian, French and Latin."

Comment: Let's think this through, shall we? In order for a dead person to hear prayers they would have to have characteristics of godhood which are defined as omniscience (all knowing - being able to hear a prayer from a human made at any time and any place) and omnipotent (all powerful - being able to grant prayers and petitions). And while we all no doubt share great respect for Mary, the mother of Jesus, we know that she is not God and does not have divine capabilities. She cannot hear your prayers, much less answer them. It's good to have respect for the saints, they are great role models of spiritual virtues, but that respect, when twisted into worship, becomes idolatry.

The disciples asked Jesus how to pray. It was a simple question. And he answered them. It was a simple answer. He actually didn't say to pray to dead people. Really, he never said that. You can even look it up for yourself (here and here) if you are curious about how Jesus said we should pray...and to whom.