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     Last week it was published on several Catholic new sites that five Cardinals petitioned the Holy Father to pronounce a fifth dogmatic statement about the Blessed Mother, namely that she is the Mother of the human race, Mediatrix of all Grace and Co-Redemptrix. (The focus is on her Spiritual Maternity) They believed that this pronouncement would serve both inter-religious as well as ecumenical purposes.

      This movement has been hot and cold in Church circles since the 1920′s when Cardinal Mercier began to push for Mary to be pronounced Mediatrix of all grace. It has also been the part of a petition drive with the group Vox Populi Mariae Mediatricae (I think the title is correct) over the last 20 years or so.

     First, do I believe that Mary is the Mother of the human race, Medatrix of all Graces and Co-Redemptrix? Yes I do. This is not the issue. My central issue is that the majority of the Catholic faithful do not know what these titles mean. In most cases, they have not been part of the liturgical tradition in the recent past. After 40 years of horrible catechesis, people have been taught very little about Jesus Christ, much less his Mother. For example, how many people do you know believe that the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception refers to Jesus’ conception by Mary? It has been 154 years since that dogma has been proclaimed and many to do not know that it refers to the conception of Mary by her Mother Anna.

     It seems to me that the most disputed title is Co-Redemptrix. This title can be misinterpreted by some to say that Mary’s role was equal to Christ’s role as Redeemer. This is definitely wrong. Mary’s role in secondary, insufficient and dependent on Christ. Even saying that Mary redeems “with” Christ can be open to misinterpretation. Until these points can be clarified, it would not be appropriate to proclaim another dogmatic teaching on the Mother of God.

    It took Duns Scotus and his idea of Preservative Redemption to pave the way for the Immaculate Conception. It took over 800 years to clarify this teaching and proclaim the dogma. Until someone equal to a Scotus comes long to work out the language of this teaching, it is best to be left as it is. If the cardinals are calling for more research and refelction on the doctrine, bringing it out of the shadows of theology, that is a good thing, but in my opinion, we have a pretyy steep hill to climb before the pope would consider sending a letter to all the bishops of the Church asking if it is appropriate that this doctrine be dogmatically proclaimed. Let me know your thoughts.

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