It is rather ironic, but that is what the Catholic Church teaches - it is POSSIBLE for a non-Catholic to enter Heaven. We see the Catholic Church as the fullness of the faith, but certainly, many non-Catholics have some correct understandings of Who God is and what He desires of men. That includes Muslims and Jews, who are certainly not 100% wrong! Those who love are from God, quite simply put. A person can be considered "invincibly ignorant" about the historical Christ and even the Bible as it truly is (rather than what Mullah Bob says...), love others with all of their heart because the Spirit blows where HE wills (and even writes a Law onto pagans' hearts, if He so chooses, says Paul to the Romans). God calls Whom He wills, and often, that is independent of where he worships at. Being saved is a work of Christ.
The Church is THE instrument in coming to know God, but God is not bound by what happens or the turn of events here. He certainly can and does call people who never even heard of the True Jesus.
We don't pray TO saints in the modern sense of that understanding. We, like Paul, ask for others to pray for us. Paul constantly asks others to pray for him, he is not praying TO the "saints" in Thessalonika, for example. Those who are righteous (say, Mary) can and do pray for us, and their prayers are efficient (says St. James in his epistle). God promised that He would answer such prayers. While it may appear to the uninitiated that we pray to a statue, the statue, like any other creation, is useful in moving our minds to the prototype. In the case of a statue of Jesus, the Incarnate One Himself.
To understand Catholicism, one must understand "sacramentalism", the idea that we come into contact with the invisible God through visible signs. Incense and bells remind us of Divine Liturgy and the offering of our lives to God. Statues remind us of the heroic sacrifices of someone heeding the call of Christ. Yes, it can be abused, like any other notion. However, God contacts men through Creation, whether we like it or not.
If you desire further discussion, I would suggest we go to a 1-1 debate thread, not necessarily to debate, but because we can more freely discuss these issues without interference or highjacking a thread.
And now back to our scheduled program...
Regards