Is Mary Coredemptrix? Vatican wants to make a statement

The Vatican wants to explain Mary's role in salvation. On Thursday, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith announced a doctrinal note entitled "Mater Populi Fidelis" ("Mother of the People of the Faithful"), which is to be published on 4 November. According to the subtitle, it will deal with "certain Marian titles in relation to Mary's participation in the work of salvation". Further details of the letter are not yet known. It is to be expected that it will deal in particular with the possible Marian title "Co-Redemptrix", which has been discussed for years. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, had already announced in July that his authority was working on a document on various topics of Mariology.

So far, four statements about Mary have been established as doctrinally binding: that she is the Mother of God, is always a virgin, was conceived without original sin and was assumed bodily into heaven. The title of "Coredemptrix" first appeared in the 15th century. In the 20th century, the term was used by Popes Pius XI and John Paul II, among others. Leo XIII, Pius X and Pius XII also thematised Mary's involvement in the solution. The latter wrote in his encyclical "Ad caeli reginam" ("To the Queen of Heaven", 1954): Mary is "Queen" because of her motherhood of God and "because of her unique contribution to our redemption". Pope Francis had expressed himself rather cautiously. "Mary is like a mother, not like a goddess or co-mediator" between God and humanity, he said in a catechesis in 2021. Nevertheless, she has a special role "as the first disciple of Jesus".

A magisterial clarification of the question of Mary's role in salvation is still pending. Attempts to officially approve or dogmatise the title of Coredemptrix have so far been rejected by the popes. The question was also discussed at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), but the church constitution "Lumen Gentium " (1964) refrained from using the title in its chapter on Mary. Doctrinal notes such as the one announced do not in principle create new doctrinal statements, but rather explain the faith of the Church with a certain degree of binding force. (fxn)