"God calls consulting the dead an abomination. How is praying to dead saints any different?" It's a serious charge, and it deserves a serious answer from Scripture.
Short answer: No. Necromancy is conjuring up the dead through a medium to extract hidden knowledge or power, and the Catholic Church condemns it as firmly as Deuteronomy does. Asking a saint to pray for you summons no one, uses no medium, and seeks no oracle. It is asking a living member of Christ's Body to pray to God, because God "is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive" (Luke 20:38).
Key verses on necromancy and the communion of saints
- "consults ghosts and spirits, or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD" (Deuteronomy 18:11–12)
- "He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled." (Mark 12:27)
- "we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1)
- "gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones." (Revelation 5:8)
- "There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human" (1 Timothy 2:5)
Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
What Protestants Believe
Most Protestants do not accuse Catholics of holding séances. Their objection is sharper: the Bible forbids every attempt to cross the line between the living and the dead.
The Mosaic law forbids anyone who "practices divination, or is a soothsayer, augur, or sorcerer," or who "consults ghosts and spirits, or seeks oracles from the dead," and says, "Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD" (Deuteronomy 18:10–12). Leviticus adds: "Do not turn to ghosts or consult spirits, by which you will be defiled. I, the LORD, am your God" (Leviticus 19:31). Isaiah rebukes those who say, "Inquire of ghosts and soothsayers who chirp and mutter," and who go "consulting the dead on behalf of the living" (Isaiah 8:19). And the classic case is King Saul, who told the medium at Endor, "Conjure up Samuel for me" (1 Samuel 28:11).
Lutheran theologian Dr. Thomas Manteufel, in a Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne) program, makes the case carefully. Citing Deuteronomy 18:10–11, he explains that a necromancer is one who contacts, or claims to contact, the dead, and he places praying to saints alongside séances and ancestor worship as attempts to reach the departed. He adds that those who have died in the Lord do not know what is happening among us, that prayer is an act of worship, and so Christians should not pray to the saints (paraphrased from CTSFW, "Prayer to Saints").
The Reformed tradition says the same in its confession: religious worship is to be given to God "and to him alone; not to angels, saints, or any other creature," and "nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone" (Westminster Confession 21.2).
What Catholics Actually Teach
First, the Catholic Church condemns necromancy without qualification. The Catechism rejects every form of divination, naming "conjuring up the dead" and "recourse to mediums" among the practices that offend against the honor and loving fear owed to God alone (CCC 2116). It also warns the faithful against spiritism, which often involves divination or magic (CCC 2117).
Second, death does not cut Christians off from Christ or from each other: the Catechism teaches that the union between believers still on pilgrimage and those who have fallen asleep in the peace of Christ is not broken (CCC 955). The saints "do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus" (CCC 956). Their intercession, the Catechism says, is their highest service to God's plan: "We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world" (CCC 2683).
What Catholics do not teach:
- That we may summon the dead. No Catholic prayer calls a saint to appear or reveal anything. The Church rejects "conjuring up the dead" (CCC 2116).
- That the saints are worshiped. Worship belongs to God alone (see Do Catholics Worship Mary?).
- That the saints act by their own power. They intercede "through the one mediator," Christ Jesus (CCC 956).
It all points to Christ. The saints are alive only because God is "not God of the dead but of the living," and Jesus has conquered death. They are joined to us as members of His one Body. They pray only "through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus" (CCC 956), and every prayer they offer ends at the Father's throne through the Son. Asking their prayers does not go around Jesus; it goes through Him, with His whole family.
The Biblical Case
1. Read what Deuteronomy actually forbids
Deuteronomy 18 lists pagan techniques: child sacrifice, divination, sorcery, spells, consulting "ghosts and spirits," seeking "oracles from the dead" (Deuteronomy 18:10–11). Each grabs at hidden power apart from God. That is why Moses introduces it as "the abominations of the nations" (Deuteronomy 18:9), and why the NABRE note classes these as occult and magical practices (note on 18:10–11).
Then God gives the alternative: "A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred" (Deuteronomy 18:15), fulfilled in Christ (Acts 3:22). The contrast is two sources of guidance: oracles from the conjured dead, or God's word. Catholics seek no oracles from the saints. We ask them to pray to the God whose word we already have.
2. Saul shows what necromancy is
Saul had already "driven mediums and diviners out of the land" (1 Samuel 28:3). But when Saul consulted the LORD and "the LORD gave no answer, neither in dreams nor by Urim nor through prophets" (1 Samuel 28:6), he went looking for another source: "Find me a medium through whom I can seek counsel" (1 Samuel 28:7). He disguised himself, came at night, and said, "Divine for me; conjure up the spirit I tell you" (1 Samuel 28:8). His motive: "I have called upon you to tell me what I should do" (1 Samuel 28:15).
Every element of necromancy is here: a medium, a conjuring, a demand for information, and a man going around a God who had rejected him. A Catholic asking St. Paul to pray for her sick child has none of them. The two acts share one feature only: the other person has died. If that alone made it necromancy, the Transfiguration would be a problem.
3. Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah
At the Transfiguration, "Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him" (Matthew 17:3). St. Luke adds: "two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem" (Luke 9:30–31). Moses had died centuries before (Deuteronomy 34:5). Jesus, the sinless Lawgiver, conversed with him openly. A Protestant will rightly answer that this was God's own doing, not a human technique. Exactly: that is the line Deuteronomy draws. It does not forbid every communication between heaven and earth; it forbids occult technique and oracle-seeking. Jesus used neither, and Catholics use neither when they ask the saints to pray.
4. The saints are not "the dead" in the sense Deuteronomy means
Answering the Sadducees from the Torah, Jesus recalled that God told Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, [the] God of Isaac, and [the] God of Jacob" (Mark 12:26). Then: "He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled" (Mark 12:27). St. Luke records the clincher: "for to him all are alive" (Luke 20:38).
Those who die in Christ are not shades waiting to be conjured. They are alive to God, and not even death "will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38–39). Of Christ's Body St. Paul says, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I do not need you'" (1 Corinthians 12:21). Death does not amputate members from Christ.
5. We have already "approached" the saints in heaven
Hebrews tells Christians on earth: "you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant" (Hebrews 12:22–24). Both "the spirits of the just made perfect" and Jesus the mediator stand in the same assembly; the one Mediator presides over His saints. The faithful of Hebrews 11 surround us as "so great a cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1). The New Covenant does not forbid fellowship with the righteous dead. It brings us into their company.
6. The saints in heaven know, care, and pray
In Revelation, the elders in heaven hold "gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones" (Revelation 5:8). An angel offers incense "along with the prayers of all the holy ones," and "The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel" (Revelation 8:3–4). Whoever the elders are, those in heaven carry the faithful's prayers to God.
The martyrs "underneath the altar" cry out, "How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?" (Revelation 6:9–10). They are conscious, they know events on earth, and they pray about them.
In Jesus' parable, the departed rich man pleads for his five living brothers (Luke 16:27–28). A parable is not a map of the afterlife, and Catholics do not build doctrine on its details. Still, the picture Jesus chose is of a departed man who is aware of, and concerned for, the living.
7. The righteous dead pray for the living
Faithful Jews before Christ already believed this. In a dream-vision, Judas Maccabeus saw the dead high priest Onias praying with outstretched arms for the whole Jewish community, and then the long-dead prophet Jeremiah, who loves his people and "fervently prays for the people and the holy city" (2 Maccabees 15:12–14). Even if you reject 2 Maccabees as Scripture (see Why Do Catholic Bibles Have 7 More Books?), it shows that faithful Jews who knew Deuteronomy 18 well did not think the intercession of the righteous dead was necromancy. And St. James grounds intercession in righteousness: "The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful" (James 5:16). No one is more righteous than "the spirits of the just made perfect" (Hebrews 12:23).
Objections Answered
(a) "Isaiah 8:19 condemns consulting the dead on behalf of the living. That's exactly what Catholics do."
At its strongest: Isaiah rebukes those who say, "Inquire of ghosts and soothsayers who chirp and mutter; should not a people inquire of their gods, consulting the dead on behalf of the living, for instruction and testimony?" and answers, "Surely, those who speak like this are the ones for whom there is no dawn" (Isaiah 8:19–20). The phrase "on behalf of the living" sounds like intercession.
Answer: Read to the end of the sentence. They consult the dead "for instruction and testimony," that is, for revelation, through "soothsayers who chirp and mutter." That is oracle-seeking through mediums, the very thing the Catholic Church forbids (CCC 2116). Catholics ask no saint for instruction; we ask them to pray. Isaiah condemns going to the dead instead of God. Catholic intercession asks the saints to go to God with us.
(b) "God answered Saul's séance with judgment. Any contact with the dead invites the same."
At its strongest: Samuel rebuked Saul, "Why do you disturb me by conjuring me up?" (1 Samuel 28:15), and foretold, "By tomorrow you and your sons will be with me" (1 Samuel 28:19). It stands as Scripture's permanent warning.
Answer: It is a permanent warning against what Saul did: disguise, a medium, "conjure up the spirit," and an attempt to get from the dead what God had refused to give (28:6–8, 15). Even Samuel's answer points back to God: "why do you ask me, if the LORD has abandoned you" (1 Samuel 28:16). And Samuel himself was not condemned for speaking: Sirach praises him for prophesying even after death to rebuke wickedness (Sirach 46:20), a book Protestants do not accept as Scripture but which shows how faithful Jews read the scene. Saul's sin was the medium and the motive, not the mere fact that Samuel was dead. A Catholic who prays, "Holy Samuel, pray for me to the Lord," has nothing in common with Saul at Endor.
(c) "The dead don't know what's happening on earth. Isaiah 63:16 says Abraham doesn't know us."
At its strongest: Isaiah prays that even if Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us, "You, LORD, are our father, our redeemer you are named from of old" (Isaiah 63:16). If even Abraham does not know his own descendants, the argument runs, the departed cannot know what is happening among us.
Answer: Isaiah 63:16 is a prayer of trust: even if our human forefathers failed to acknowledge us, God remains our Father. It is about God's faithfulness, not a ruling on what the blessed can know after Christ opened heaven. Where Scripture does address it, it shows awareness: Moses and Elijah discuss Jesus' coming "exodus" (Luke 9:31); the martyrs know their blood is not yet avenged (Revelation 6:10); heaven holds "the prayers of the holy ones" (Revelation 5:8). How much each saint knows, Scripture does not say; whatever they know, God gives them.
(d) "There is one mediator. Going through saints insults Christ."
At its strongest: "For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human" (1 Timothy 2:5). Westminster allows no mediation "of any other but of Christ alone."
Answer: Four verses earlier, the same passage commands Christians to intercede: "I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone" (1 Timothy 2:1). St. Paul saw no conflict: such prayer depends entirely on Christ's mediation, and the saints pray "through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus" (CCC 956). Asking someone to pray for you is not worship, whether you ask your pastor or St. Paul. And yes, go straight to Jesus; Catholics do, every day. For the full answer, see Does 1 Timothy 2:5 Say There Is Only One Mediator?
The Early Church Agrees
The early Christians knew Deuteronomy 18 and condemned pagan necromancy. Yet they wrote openly of the saints praying for the living, and by the fourth century the liturgy itself asked for their intercession.
- Origen (On Prayer, c. AD 233; ch. VI in William A. Curtis's translation): "But these pray along with those who genuinely pray--not only the high priest but also the angels... and also the souls of the saints already at rest" (ccel.org). Note the order: first the High Priest, Christ; then angels and saints praying with us.
- St. Cyprian of Carthage (Epistle 56 [ANF numbering], to Pope St. Cornelius in exile, c. AD 253): "Let us on both sides always pray for one another... that if any one of us, by the swiftness of divine condescension, shall go hence the first, our love may continue in the presence of the Lord, and our prayers for our brethren and sisters not cease in the presence of the Father's mercy" (newadvent.org).
- Mystagogical Catechesis 5 (Jerusalem, c. AD 350; traditionally attributed to St. Cyril of Jerusalem, though some scholars assign it to his successor John), describing the Eucharistic prayer: "Then we commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, that at their prayers and intercessions God would receive our petition" (Catechetical Lecture 23.9). The petition is made to God, at Christ's sacrifice.
- St. Jerome (Against Vigilantius 6, AD 406), answering a critic who denied that the dead pray for us: "If Apostles and martyrs while still in the body can pray for others, when they ought still to be anxious for themselves, how much more must they do so when once they have won their crowns, overcome, and triumphed?" (newadvent.org).
- St. Augustine of Hippo (Tractates on the Gospel of John 84.1, early 5th century), on the martyrs named at the Eucharist: "we do not commemorate them at that table in the same way, as we do others who now rest in peace, as that we should also pray for them, but rather that they should do so for us, that we may cleave to their footsteps" (newadvent.org).
To be precise: the earliest writings speak more of the saints praying for us than of requests to them. But none of these Fathers, writing in a Church that forbade divination and necromancy, treated the saints' intercession as either.
Conclusion
Deuteronomy 18 forbids a real evil, and the Catholic Church forbids it with equal force: mediums, conjuring, séances, oracles, every grab at hidden power apart from God. Asking the saints to pray is the opposite: it uses no medium but Christ, seeks no oracle, and summons no one, because the saints are not ghosts below but the living, gathered around the throne of the Lamb.
If you're Protestant, you already ask fellow believers to pray for you. The only question is whether death breaks the Body of Christ. Jesus says no: "to him all are alive."
Come home. The one family of God in heaven and on earth, joined in Christ and praying together around His altar, is fully lived in the Catholic Church. Christ did not found many churches. He founded one, on St. Peter and the apostles (Matthew 16:18), and that Church is the Catholic Church. "It is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (CCC 816). If you are a baptized Christian, you already share "a certain, although imperfect, communion" with her (CCC 838). Every truth you already hold is a call to the rest of the way. Christ is calling you into the Catholic Church.
Your next step: Come to Mass this Sunday at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. Everyone is welcome; if you're not yet Catholic, pray with us but don't receive Communion yet. When you're ready to become Catholic, call the parish office and ask about OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. They will walk you through every step. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.
FAQ
Does the Catholic Church allow séances, Ouija boards, or mediums? No. The Church rejects "conjuring up the dead" and "recourse to mediums" (CCC 2116) and warns the faithful against spiritism (CCC 2117).
Do Catholics expect the saints to answer back? No. We ask the saints to pray to God for us; we do not ask them for messages. Any answer comes from God, who hears the prayers of "the holy ones" (Revelation 8:4).
Where can I read the full biblical case for asking the saints' prayers? See Is Praying to Saints Biblical?
Sources
Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:9–15 and note; 1 Samuel 28:3–19; 2 Maccabees 15:12–14; Sirach 46:20; Isaiah 8:19–20; Isaiah 63:16; Matthew 16:18; Matthew 17:3; Mark 12:26–27; Luke 9:30–31; Luke 16:27–28; Luke 20:37–38; Romans 8:38–39; 1 Corinthians 12:21; 1 Timothy 2:1–5; Hebrews 12:1, 22–24; James 5:16; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 6:9–10; Revelation 8:3–4.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 816, 838; 955, 956; 2116, 2117; 2683.
Church Fathers: Origen, On Prayer (ch. VI, trans. W. A. Curtis, ccel.org); Cyprian, Epistle 56 (ANF vol. 5); Cyril of Jerusalem (attrib.), Catechetical Lecture 23 (Mystagogical Catechesis 5).9 (NPNF2 vol. 7); Jerome, Against Vigilantius 6 (NPNF2 vol. 6); Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John 84.1 (NPNF1 vol. 7).
Protestant sources: Thomas E. Manteufel, "Prayer to Saints," American Religious Scene no. 9 (Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne); Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. 21.2.