Vatican doctrinal note rejecting “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix” titles for Mary drafted without Mariologists input, consultant reveals; silence seen as dissent.
Newsroom (18/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) A consultant to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has disclosed that no specialist Mariologists contributed to the drafting or public presentation of a recent Holy See document Mater populi fidelis that restricts the theological use of the titles “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix” for the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Father Maurizio Gronchi, a theologian and consultant to the dicastery, described the absence of Mariology experts as unusual, noting that the dicastery’s work is traditionally collegial and routinely includes input from both internal consultants and external specialists.
Speaking to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister agency, Father Gronchi pointed out that neither professors from Rome’s Pontifical Faculty of Theology “Marianum” – a leading center for Marian studies – nor members of the Pontifical International Marian Academy (PAMI) participated in the May 2024 presentation of the document titled Mater populi fidelis (“Mother of the faithful people”). The text, approved by Pope Leo XIV and signed by Dicastery Prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, cautions against using “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix” in official liturgy, theology, and prayer.
“Their silence can be understood as dissent,” Father Gronchi said of the Marian academy and faculty. PAMI declined ACI Prensa’s request for comment.
Father Gronchi, who presented the document alongside Cardinal Fernández at the Jesuit Curia in Rome, defended its conclusions, arguing that applying such titles risks distorting Trinitarian theology and fostering superstition.
“It is superstitious to think that the Virgin Mary has the role of restraining God’s wrath,” he said. “The idea that Mary needs to mediate and convince God to be merciful distorts the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
The document cites historical precedent: In 1996, Pope Saint John Paul II asked then-Prefect Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) to examine whether “Co-Redemptrix” could be declared a dogma. After Ratzinger deemed the term inappropriate, John Paul II ceased using it entirely, Father Gronchi noted. The title appears nowhere in John Paul II’s 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater, nor in the teachings of Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, or Paul VI.
Father Gronchi emphasized that the Church has already expressed the fullness of Marian doctrine through four solemnly defined dogmas: the Divine Motherhood (Council of Ephesus, 431), Perpetual Virginity (Lateran Council, 649), Immaculate Conception (1854), and Assumption (1950).
“At present, it does not seem that new truths need to be affirmed” about Our Lady, he said.
The document has elicited strong reactions among some Catholic circles that have long advocated for a fifth Marian dogma formally proclaiming Mary as “Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate.” Supporters argue the titles accurately reflect patristic tradition and Mary’s unique cooperation in redemption, while critics – including the new dicastery text – warn they can blur the unique mediation of Christ and risk ecclesial division.
The absence of Mariologist collaboration marks a rare departure from the dicastery’s customary consultative process and underscores ongoing tensions surrounding the theological boundaries of Marian devotion in the post-Vatican II Church.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from ACI Digital
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