It shouldn't be surprising, from an historical perspective, that the heirarchical structure of the Catholic Church derives from the structure of the Roman Empire, since the Church was deeply involved in politics from, I don't know, probably since Constantine converted to Christianity in 312. Rulers have used the Church for their own purposes since then, and vice versa, as you know.
Here is a little excerpt from the Code of Justinian:
>>THE CODE OF OUR LORD
THE MOST SACRED EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.
SECOND EDITION.
BOOK 1.
TITLE 1.
CONCERNING THE MOST EXALTED TRINITY AND THE
CATHOLIC FAITH AND PROVIDING THAT NO ONE
SHALL DARE TO PUBLICLY OPPOSE THEM.
1. The Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius to the people of the City of Constantinople.
We desire that all peoples subject to Our benign Empire shall live under the same religion that the Divine Peter, the
Apostle, gave to the Romans, and which the said religion declares was introduced by himself, and which it is well known that
the Pontiff Damascus, and Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic sanctity, embraced; that is to say, in accordance
with the rules of apostolic discipline and the evangelical doctrine, we should believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
constitute a single Deity, endowed with equal majesty, and united in the Holy Trinity.
(1) We order all those who follow this law to assume the name of Catholic Christians, and considering others as demented
and insane, We order that they shall bear the infamy of heresy; and when the Divine vengeance which they merit has been
appeased, they shall afterwards be punished in accordance with Our resentment, which we have acquired from the judgment
of Heaven.<<
aloha.net
In fact, a lot of people believe that Christianity is a pure invention, and was invented by the Romans in order to pacify the Jews during the mighty conflict that culminated in the burning of the Temple and the Diaspora. I believe it was Nietzche that called Christianity a slave religion.
From a spiritual/philosophical/cognitive standpoint, the association of the Church with temporal power, and, most particularly, with cruel, despotic temporal power, is, indeed, puzzling.
There are a lot of elements which have been added to the Church over the years which are questionable. Some are subject to change. I don't know if you are aware of this, but the Church has reformed itself so much that there is very little difference between Catholicism and Lutheranism now. Almost all of Luther's criticisms of the Church were eventually accepted. I think the doctrine of justification by faith is still the sticking point. All those people, burned to death, or otherwise executed, for nothing. Similarly the Anglican church.
The point you make about praying to saints and to Mary as being tantamount to paganism is very well taken. I suppose you are aware that none of this derives from the Gospels.
I find it puzzling as well as humorous. But people do believe that saints perform miracles, and who am I to say that they are wrong?
As an example of the humor, in New Orleans there is a church on the outskirts of the French Quarter, Our Lady of Guadelupe, which has a statute of St. Expedite, and used to have a statute of St. Fragile. These being in French, "rush" and "fragile," words stamped on boxes carrying plaster images of the saints. A cult among the ignorant grew up around these saints, and the church, for whatever reason, decided to play along. I have seen the statue of St. Expedite with my own eyes.
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