No disagreement from Rome either, despite what others say of us.
“No disagreement from Rome either, despite what others say of us.”
Then what’s with the confessional box and penance? Both apparently thought up by man, not God.
No disagreement from Rome either, despite what others say of us.
Yeah, but I think that the others can be legitimately unsure of what Catholics believe based on what Catholic theologians say. For example, here is an excerpt from the article: Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces by Father William G. Most. I looked him up and he appeared to have been a well respected priest, author and professor: (all emphasis added)
To begin, we can say without doubt that the title "Mediatrix" is justified, and applies to all graces for certain, by her cooperation in acquiring all graces on Calvary. The Second Vatican Council (Lumen gentium ## 61-62), said:
We notice that Vatican II did not add the words "of all graces." However, as many papal texts point out, Mary's role in dispensation flows logically from her role in acquiring all graces. Further, the Council itself added a note on the above passage, in which it refers us to the texts of Leo XIII, Adiutricem populi, St. Pius X, Ad diem illum, Pius XI, Miserentissimus Redemptor, and Pius XII, Radio message to Fatima.
Leo XIII, in the text referred to, spoke of her, as we saw above, as having "practically limitless power." St. Pius X said she was the "dispensatrix of all the gifts, and is the "neck" connecting the Head of the Mystical Body to the Members. But all power flows through the neck. Pius XII said "Her kingdom is as vast as that of her Son and God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion." These and many other texts speak in varied ways of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces, so often that the teaching has become infallible.
This author appears to acknowledge openly that Mary was a co-Mediator, the apparent contradiction of the Vatican II statement notwithstanding. If Mary is the "neck" and all graces go through her, then so does salvational grace. Co-Mediator. Then, Father Most goes on to address Protestant objections. This one involves our instant text:
Protestants object to this , saying that there is only one mediator: 1 Tim 2:5. We agree that there are many ways in which Christ is the only mediator between God and man. 1) There is only one mediator who is such by very nature, being both true God and true man. 2) There is only one mediator whose whose work is necessary, without whom, in God's plan, there could be no salvation. 3) There is only one mediator who depends on no one else for power.
IMO, these are extremely weak arguments. First, he parses the Biblical text into different WAYS of being a mediator. The Bible makes no such distinction. To me, the first answer above is the same as saying that Jesus is the only Mediator in that He was the only left-handed Mediator. Mary was a co-Mediator, but she was right-handed so this does not violate scripture. A similar argument wipes out numbers 2 and 3 above. Father Most makes artificial distinctions where none are present in the text. The Bible says "ONE MEDIATOR". It doesn't say one mediator who was necessary, or one mediator who doesn't depend on anyone else, etc. Those are obvious work-arounds to accommodate the Church's view of Mary.
Father Most concludes: (emphasis added)
So we answer, since Mary was associated with her Son in acquiring grace for us, she will also share with him in distributing that grace to us. This fits well with the words of the Popes, who call her the administra of grace, meaning that she administers or dispenses it. So Pope Leo XIII, Iucunda semper, said:
Without meaning to brag, it took me all of three seconds to find this article on Google. There are TONS just like it. Now what are we poor Prottys supposed to think when we see this stuff? :)