"There is a striking similarity between the Church of Rome and the
Jewish Church at the time of Christ's first advent. While the Jews secretly trampled upon every principle of the law of God, they were outwardly rigorous in the observance of its precepts, loading it down with exactions and traditions that made obedience painful and burdensome. ....The Savior's words concerning the Jews, apply with still greater force to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church: "They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." Matthew 23:4.
* The worship of images and relics,
* the invocation of saints,
* and the exaltation of the pope
are devices of Satan to attract the minds of the people from God and from His Son."
Great Controversy p.568 E.G.W.
