Hi Magenta. Well, if we're going to discuss what the Scripture says about Mary, a good place to begin is Rev 12:1.
"12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:" (Rev 12:1)
12:5 says this Woman is the Mother of Christ (the Son born to rule all nations). Who is the Mother of Christ? Plainly Mary.
Why did God give her a Crown? He gives the answer 10 chapters earlier:
"be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
Recall that Mary stood faithfully at the foot of the Cross (Jn 19:25), when all His Apostles had fled (Mk 14:50). And yet if even they who forsook and fled were promised a reward in Heaven (Mat 19:28), how much more will Mary, who was steadfastly faithful to her divine Son, have a greater reward for her fidelity? All of the Apostles who fled sinned that day on Calvary (though John returned), but Mary did not. She remained faithful to her Son and God. That explains why the Bible says she received a crown from her Son with 12 stars in Heaven.
Regarding the other things, there's a difference
Mediation and
Intercession. Christ is the only Mediator, but all believers can be intercessors.
1 Tim 2:1 "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people"
Is there a verse that says even the Saints in Heaven are intercessors who offer prayers to God for us? Yes.
Rev 5:8 "Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."
And then the Deuterocanonical books (the 7 books removed in Protestant Bibles/retained in Catholic Bibles) provide further support.
Bar 3:4 “O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, hear now the prayers of the dead Israelites, and of their children" Taken from:
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Baruch-3-4/ All these are Scriptural reasons to believe those who go to Heaven pray for us.
Strictly speaking, we Pray only to God/Jesus. But we do ask others to pray for us. If you ask a Pastor to pray for you, are you praying to him? So there is
a difference between praying to someone and
asking that someone to pray for you. We do the latter with the Saints.
You mean, Catholics and Protestants/Catholics and Evangelicals. Catholics
are Christians. If Catholics aren't Christians, then Christianity began in the 16th Century, with Martin Luther, not in the 1st Century, with Jesus Christ. Want to maintain that? I hope not.
In Christ,
Xavier.