Just a fact that you ought to be aware of before making sweeping comparisons between religions:
“The ancient church, in both Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, developed a tradition of asking for the intercession of (deceased) saints, and this remains the practice of most Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and some Anglican churches. Churches of the Protestant Reformation* however rejected prayer to the saints, largely on the basis of the sole mediatorship of Christ. The reformer Huldrych Zwingli admitted that he had offered prayers to the saints until his reading of the Bible convinced him that this was idolatrous.” (from Wikipedia: Christianity: Prayer)
And don’t forget (or be aware) that Catholic churches are full of actual statues of the saints.
I’m not coming back into this discussion, just presenting these facts.
*Which of course was way after the Ran’s time.