All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)
As a Southern Baptist, I believe this also pertains to Mary, but I would like to know how Catholics explain it. I am truely not flaming here, just curious.
Good question. I don't have the definitive answer but here are a few possibilities:
Does the "all" mean every single person (as I assume you interpret it) or does it mean all as in no group is exempt. An example of this is too say the "all" could mean no group is excluded (Gentiles, Jews, young, old, men, women, etc.) Of course I am no Greek scholar.
Another is that Mary may have no longer been with us at the time this was preached. OR. If his audience knew her to be sinless there would be no reason to go back and restate it. It would just be assumed that there was no contridiction.
Again, this is all speculation on my part.
I am an Episcopalian and former Regular Baptist who is converting to Catholicism. My Baptist pastor once pointed out that "all" cannot necessarily mean "all men inclusive, period", since that would include Jesus. There are exceptions to the word all in Scripture. Catholic theology simply states that Mary was preserved from the Original Sin of Adam, in God's foreknowledge that she would carry the Son of God within her members. This is a singular event, for the Incarnation.