Posted on 10/30/2025 1:44:58 PM PDT by ebb tide
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has announced that it will present a new doctrinal note “referring to Mary’s cooperation in the work of salvation.”
The document is titled Mater Populi Fidelis (“Mother of the Faithful People”), with the Italian subtitle Nota dottrinale su alcuni titoli mariani riferiti alla cooperazione di Maria all’opera della salvezza. It will be unveiled from 11.00 to 12.30 in the morning at the Jesuit General Curia, with free entry and a reception to follow. The Vatican Press Office will release the full text of Mater Populi Fidelis at noon on 4 November.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery, will preside at the presentation. He will be joined by Professor Maurizio Gronchi of the Pontifical Urbaniana University, a consultor to the Dicastery, and by Msgr Armando Matteo, Secretary of the Dicastery’s Doctrinal Section.
Observers note that the timing and title of the note have drawn interest in how it will address the question of Mary’s role in redemption. Theologians and commentators are speculating whether Mater Populi Fidelis will touch on the controversial title “Co-Redemptrix” (Co-Redeemer). The term, long used in Catholic devotion, has been debated for decades. Supporters have petitioned the Vatican to define Mary’s cooperation in salvation as dogma, while critics warn that the title may exaggerate her role and risk damaging ecumenical relations with other Christian denominations.
Some hope the new note might affirm or clarify the concept of Co-Redemptrix; others expect it will avoid the issue, mindful of ecumenical sensitivities. Vatican correspondent for Per Mariam, Michael Haynes, has pointed out that in 1913 the Holy Office, now the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, granted a partial indulgence to a prayer of reparation to Our Lady ending with the words: “I bless thy holy Name, I praise thine exalted privilege of being truly Mother of God, ever Virgin, conceived without stain of sin, Co-Redemptrix of the human race.”
The theological background is complex. Although devotion to Mary’s cooperation in salvation is centuries old, the term “Co-Redemptrix” has never been formally defined by the Church. Medieval liturgies sometimes called Mary “Redemptrix” alongside Christ, with the prefix “co-” added from the fifteenth century to make clear that she is not herself the Redeemer. The title received limited official recognition—for example, in a 1908 Vatican decree on Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows—but the Second Vatican Council declined to define it, preferring broader language in Lumen Gentium.
The debate over Co-Redemptrix was a point of contention during the Council. Many conservative bishops and theologians pressed for Mary to be proclaimed Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate as a fifth Marian dogma. Petitions for such a definition reportedly gathered signatures from attending bishops, but by a narrow vote the Council decided to integrate Marian teaching into the broader Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) rather than issue a separate schema on Mary.
Lumen Gentium ultimately called her “Mediatrix,” acknowledging her maternal intercession and cooperation in Christ’s saving work, but avoided the stronger title “Co-Redemptrix,” which many Council Fathers feared could obscure Christ’s unique redemptive role and complicate ecumenical dialogue. This marked a deliberate moderation of pre-conciliar enthusiasm for defining the title as dogma.
In modern papal teaching, the issue has been treated with caution. Pope John Paul II used the term “Co-Redemptrix” several times in the 1990s, raising hopes among supporters, but his successor, then-Cardinal Ratzinger, warned that the term was “too far from Scripture” and risked confusing the faithful. Pope Francis has likewise stated that “Christ is the only Redeemer” and described Mary as given to the Church “as a mother, not as … co-redeemer.”
Ecumenical concerns continue to discourage formal definition, as many theologians fear that advancing a new Marian dogma could strain relations with Orthodox and Protestant communities. With this in mind, Vatican correspondents will be watching closely when Mater Populi Fidelis is unveiled on 4 November.
If the unorthodox and immoral Tucho Fernandez has anything to with this document, he'll ditch the Mother of God in favor of VC II's "ecumania".
Ping
The Vatican and it Apostates are further from God than Islam, Mormonism, and Buddhism combined!
Mary is not considered a goddess, but the distinction regarding her role as the “mother of God” is a matter of theological interpretation, with some Christians believing the title is appropriate and others disagreeing. Those who use the title “Theotokos” or “God-bearer” explain that since Jesus is one divine person who is fully God, his human mother is therefore the “mother of God” in a Christological sense, not because she is divine herself. However, others emphasize that the Bible identifies Mary as the “mother of Jesus,” and because God has no beginning and no mother, Mary could not have birthed God himself.
Yes, mother of Jesus, not mother of Christ, not mother of the Holy Spirit, not mother of God.
Uhy. W—boopy—where did we go wrong?
Thank you for not hiding this important topic behind the FR “caucus” label.
All of Christendom needs to discuss this.
The PV of the BVM:
” According to Ezekiel 43:4, the glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east, and in Ezekiel 44:2, the Lord commands that this gate remain shut because He has entered through it, symbolizing the holiness and exclusivity of His presence.
This gate is considered the primary entrance to the inner sanctuary in Ezekiel’s vision of a future temple.
That's the most idiotic statement I've ever read.
Catholic believe she was born immaculate, and therefore without sin and didn’t need to savior.
It’s of course heresy but it’s what they believe.
In before th....never mind. Failed again.
What’s idiotic is “Mother of God”, when God has no father and no mother.
They are insane.
The hatred and mockery of Christ’s mother by so called Christians gets more disgusting the older I get.
Mary is the mother of the Incarnate God.
Horse shit. Mary’s blood was not spilt for anyone....
Wouldn’t Mary’s mother have to be sinless to produce a sinless child?
Its an article of Catholic Doctrine that Mary is the mother of God. Her title is Formal Catholic teaching. You have to assent to it or are you a to Catholic?
Four things:
You deny Jesus is Christ.
You deny Jesus Christ had a mother.
You deny Jesus Christ is God.
You reject all of Christ's teachings about His Father, who art in Heaven.
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