What does the term latria refer to in Catholic practice?

• A. Worship due to God alone
• B. Veneration given to saints
• C. Honor paid to Mary
• D. Adoration of relics

Answer: (B)

Latria refers to the worship due to God alone. In Catholic practice, worship (adoration) is the highest form of reverence shown to the Creator—prayers, liturgical worship, and praise that acknowledge God’s sovereign divinity. Veneration of saints, on the other hand, is called dulia; it honors the holy people as models of faith and asks for their intercession, but it is not the worship owed to God. Mary receives a special, higher form of veneration called hyperdulia because of her unique role in salvation history. Relics and images may be venerated as signs of reverence toward those holy figures, but this kind of respect is not worship and thus not latria. So latria is the worship due to God alone.