Vatican envoy to South Africa tells ecumenical gathering that honoring Mary is essential for all baptized Christians and a powerful force for unity.
Newsroom (09/12/2025 Gaudium Press ) The representative of the Holy Father in South Africa, Archbishop Henryk Mieczysław Jagodziński, has emphasized the essential role of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary for all Christians and its significant value in ecumenical dialogue.
In a December 6 lecture on the Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Apostolic Nunciature in Pretoria, the Apostolic Nuncio stated unequivocally that “Marian devotion is not an optional addition, a pious ‘extra’ reserved for some Catholics. It belongs to the very heart of Christian life – for every baptized person.” He explained that to live with Mary is to learn the fundamentals of the Christian life: how to say ‘yes’ to God, serve others, remain faithful, and persevere in prayer.
Addressing a common point of division, Archbishop Jagodziński argued that “Far from being an obstacle in ecumenical dialogue, authentic Marian devotion—rooted in Scripture and the earliest tradition—is one of the most powerful bridges that can unite all who believe in Jesus Christ.” He grounded this in the shared belief across traditions, noting the Blessed Virgin Mary “is not a ‘Catholic invention’” but “the Mother of the Lord—the same Lord whom Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Anglicans, Copts, Assyrians, Lutherans, Reformed, Pentecostals, and countless others confess as Savior and God.”
“Every Christian tradition, without exception, honors the woman who said ‘fiat,’ who gave birth to the Word made flesh, who stood beneath the Cross, and who prayed with the apostles at Pentecost,” the Vatican diplomat said.
He observed that this shared honor makes Mary “a point of communion rather than division” and “the Mother of unity because she is the Mother of the one Body of Christ.” As evidence, he cited major Marian shrines worldwide—Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, Częstochowa, Walsingham, Aparecida—where “Christians of every tradition have knelt together before the same Mother and have been drawn more deeply into love for her Son.”
The Nuncio concluded by urging Christians not to fear entrusting themselves “more fully to Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of all who believe in her Son,” especially “in a world torn by division, in a Church that longs for visible unity.” He invoked her role at Pentecost, stating, “She who gathered the apostles in the Upper Room and prayed with them until the Holy Spirit came is still able to gather all the scattered children of God and pray with us until the prayer of Jesus is fulfilled: ‘That they may all be one.’”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from ACI Africa
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