I have some questions I'd like to ask catholics (very long)

Let me preface this thread by saying I love you all. If you're familiar with my posting history, I am a man of faith who makes a lot of mistakes daily. I am not here to judge or criticize anyone. However, I don't have any catholic friends, and I'm sure some people here can answer some of my questions.

I admit I am very ignorant of catholic.....traditions. A few things I've heard that catholics do perplex me though.

For starters, the pope. It is my understanding that the pope is supposedly taking all the prayers of all catholics to deliver them to God. Surely catholics don't think he is anything other than a filthy sinner, just like me. Right? Surely catholics don't think they need him to pray to God for them, do they?

Speaking of having your prayers go to a middle man.... Or woman... What is the deal with praying to Mary? She is nothing more than the vessel God used to bring Jesus into this world. Is there any biblical reference at all to Jesus saying to pray to his mom?

Now I know the angel greeted her with "Hail Mary", however if you are honest with yourself, hail was a greeting back then. It just meant "Hi Mary" in my opinion. The way some people use it in prayer in modern times certainly doesn't mean "Hi".

Now what about the part where it is said that Mary was favored among all women? Well that part is obviously true. God was obviously pleased with Mary, to choose to use her as the vessel to deliver the messiah into the world. God was pleased with Abraham too, but no one is praying to Abraham (I hope).

Third, punishment. It is my understanding that if you sin as a child, the priest will command you to say 10 Hail Marys or something along those lines. The gospel however tells us that we cannot "earn" our way into heaven, that we can only please God through faith. We cannot atone for our sins any more than we could make the moon turn into cheese. Jesus has paid for our sins, we don't have to pay more.

And lastly, baptism. It is my understanding that all catholic children are baptized as infants. I was taught that baptism was symbolic of a rebirth into Christ, and is the decision of the individual, not the parent.

I will repeat, I'm a filthy sinner. I am lost without my Lord and savior. I just can't help but see a relation between the Pharisees and my understanding of Catholics. What am I missing?