1.) Why is Mary revered as the Mother of God, and prayed too like a goddess or divine authority figure?
SO GLAD you asked that question; Here is how the proverbial frog got boiled, or in this
case, how the great harlot got to sitting on God's throne and worshipped.
Year 300 AD - Prayers for the dead
300 - Sign of the cross
320 - Candles used in worship (a carry over from incense buring and spirit chasing by pagans)
375 - Worship of siants and angels
394 - Institution of Mass
431 - Worship of Mary began
500 - Priest began to dress differently than Laity
526 - Extreme Unction
593 - Pergatory introduced
600 - Prayers directed to Mary
600 - Worship services in latin only
607 - First Pope appointed
709 - Kissing the Pope's foot
786 - Worship of the cross, images, and relics
850 - Holy Water invented
995 - Fasting on Fridays and during Lent
1097 - Celibacy of the Priesthood
1090 - Rosary, prayer beads
1184 - The Inquisition
1190 - Sale of indulgences
1215 - Transubstantiation
1220 - Adoration of the wafer
1229 - Bible forbidden to laymen
1229 - Confession to priests
1414 - Communion cup forbidden to the people
1439 - Doctrine of pergatory decreed
1439 - Doctrine of seven sacraments affired - Baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance,
ordination (or holy orders), matrimony, extreme unction
1508 - Ave maria approved
1534 - Jesuit order founded by Ignatius Loyola
1545 - Tradition given equal authority with scriptures
1546 - Apocrypha placed in the Douay version (Catholic Bible)
1854 - Immaculate conception of Mary
1864 - Syllabus of errors (A list by Pius IX condemning 80 Protestant doctrines
which he called "the principle errors of our times.")
1870 - Infallibility of the Pope declared
1950 - Assumption of the "virgin Mary" decreed
1965 - Mary proclaimed "Mother of the church."
And if I may add two here:
2005 - Catholic church no longer swears by the truth of the Bible
2013 - Mary sits on the Mercy Seat, God's throne
One degree at a time and the proverbial frog boils without even noticing
the water getting hot. And RC's claim they are the "True Church?"
I see nothing that says they are even part of Jesus' church any more.
Lip service means nothing to God.