Blessed Virgin Mary Who? Mater Populi Fidelis
7 minute read time.
1 John 4:1 | Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
What's all the hubbub... bub?
Social media are abuzz with talk about the identity of Mary and her role in salvation. Learned commentators are weighing in — some caught up in the politicization of the topic and trapped in a hermeneutic of suspicion more than tapping into the opportunity to engage in authentic debate. Controversy tends to sell more than tugging at a document with goodwill and thorough analysis. Ad hominem attacks are flying around like daggers in a gang fight.
Put 'em up!
The recent document by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a straight forward composition that requires attention to detail and a nuanced understanding of context — yes context! — to avoid getting unnecessarily steamed-up about what the document Mater Populi Fidelis (The Mother of the Faithful People of God / MPF) says or doesn't say.
Breathe!
Some might cite earlier respected theologians who used the term "Co-redemptrix" to use as a stick to beat others into rejecting the latest addition to theological dialogue, i.e., the testing of spirits. Again, context helps deliver a reader from assigning an inappropriate meaning to the term co-redemptrix. For some, it may be as easy as not capitalizing the letter 'c' in order to preserve the distinction between Jesus' unique role and identity and Mary's fostering of union of the faithful with Christ.
Too much or too little?
The document aims to preserve the identity and role of Mary so as to not interfere with the unique identity and role of Jesus Christ. To put it another way, it seeks to clarify who Jesus is and who Mary is. Jesus is the Word-Made-Flesh; Mary is the Immaculate Mother (Theotokos, God-bearer), a creature preserved from original sin by a singular act of God.
Bread Crumbs
Colossians 1:24 | Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church.
Paul participates in the action of Christ by cooperating with Christ's saving work. Paul was not and is not the origin of saving grace. Saint Paul was and is a conduit for God's grace, one who can intercede for us in the Presence of God. Is Paul a co-redeemer? Nope. The teaching is clear.
Mater Populi Fidelis | 53. No human person — not even the Apostles or the Blessed Virgin — can act as a universal dispenser of grace. Only God can bestow grace, and he does so through the humanity of Christ since “the man Christ possessed supreme fullness of grace, as being the only-begotten of the Father.” Although the Blessed Virgin Mary is preeminently “full of grace” and “Mother of God,” she, like us, is an adopted daughter of the Father and, as Dante Alighieri writes, “daughter of your Son.” She cooperates in the economy of salvation by a derived and subordinate participation. Therefore, any expression about her “mediation” in grace must be understood as a distant analogy to Christ and his unique mediation.
MPF expands:
60. When Saint Thomas speaks of the “different gifts of grace” for the service of one’s neighbor, he is referring to the various charismatic gifts because, he notes, “as it is said (1 Cor 12:10), ‘to one is given the gift of tongues, to another the gift of healing, etc.’” This aspect is also present in the thought of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, who indicates that the rivers of the Spirit’s water — transmitted through believers — are manifested when “the Spirit makes one man a teacher of divine truth, inspires another to prophesy, gives another the power of casting out devils… shows another how to help the poor, teaches another to fast and lead a life of asceticism.”
61. Something similar can be said about the interpretation of John 14:12, which refers to believers accomplishing “greater works” (meizona) than those Christ did during his earthly life. Believers share in Christ’s work insofar as they also, in some way, enkindle the faith of others through the proclamation of the Word, as John 17:20 explicitly states: “those who will believe in me through their word.” The same idea is implied in John 14:6-11, where Christ’s works reveal the Father (v. 8) and the works of believers — focused on announcing the Gospel with their words — are placed alongside his. Indeed, Jesus proclaims: “If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (Jn 15:20c), and just as whoever hears Christ’s Word has eternal life (cf. Jn 5:24), so also Jesus proclaims that others will come to believe through the word of his believers (cf. Jn 17:20). However, this involves not only their spoken words but also their eloquent witness. This is why Jesus asks the Father that his believers may be united: so that “the world may believe” (Jn 17:21).
The Love That Gives Itself in the World
62. The Gospel of John closely links fraternal charity with the sharing of this good. Indeed, the affirmation, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15) runs parallel to the statement, “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do” (Jn 14:12). When Christ speaks of the fruit that he expects from his disciples, he ultimately identifies it with fraternal love (cf. Jn 15:16-17). Likewise, after discussing the various extraordinary works believers can perform (cf. 1 Cor 12), Saint Paul proposes a more excellent way when he says, “earnestly desire the greater [ta meizona] gifts, and I will show you a still more excellent way [kath’hyperbolēn]”: love (1 Cor 12:31, cf. 13:1). Works of love toward one’s neighbor — even daily labors or efforts to change this world — can then become a channel for cooperating with Christ’s saving work.
Does Mary participate in the action of Christ? Yes, she does. She intercedes for us but she does not redeem man from his sins. She is full of grace (kecharitomene) by virtue of God's action, but she is not God.
ibid. | 38. Mary is united to Christ in a unique way by her motherhood and by being full of grace. This is hinted at in the angel’s greeting (cf. Lk 1:28), which uses a word (kecharitōmenē) that is found only here and nowhere else in the Bible. She, who received in her womb the power of the Holy Spirit and became the Mother of God, by that same Spirit, becomes Mother of the Church.[91] Because of this singular union in motherhood and in grace, her prayer for us has a value and an efficacy that cannot be compared to any other intercession. Saint John Paul II connected the title “Mediatrix” with this role of maternal intercession, noting that Mary “puts herself ‘in the middle,’ that is to say, she acts as a mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as mother. She knows that, as such, she can point out to her Son the needs of mankind.”
and... .
ibid. | 54. In the perfect immediacy between a human being and God in the communication of grace, not even Mary can intervene. Neither friendship with Jesus Christ nor the Trinitarian indwelling can be conceived of as something that comes to us through Mary or the saints. In any case, what we can say is that Mary desires this good for us and she asks for it, together with us. The liturgy, which is also lex credendi, allows us to reaffirm this cooperation of Mary, not in the communication of grace but in her maternal intercession. In fact, when explaining in what sense the privilege granted to Mary was ordered toward the good of the People of God, the liturgy of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception states that she became an “advocate of grace” — that is, she intercedes by asking God that we might receive the gift of grace.
ibid. | 55. As the Second Vatican Council teaches, “the Blessed Virgin’s salutary influence… does not hinder in any way the immediate union of the faithful with Christ but, rather, fosters it.” For this reason, one should avoid any description that would suggest a Neoplatonic-like outpouring of grace by stages, as if God’s grace were descending through various intermediaries (such as Mary) while its ultimate source (God) remained disconnected from our hearts. Such interpretations carry a negative impact on a proper understanding of the intimate, direct, and immediate encounter that grace effects between the Lord and the believer’s heart. The fact is that only God, the Triune God, justifies. Only God raises us to overcome the infinite disproportion that separates us from divine life; only he acts in us with his Trinitarian indwelling; only he enters into us and transforms us, making us sharers in his divine life. It does not honor Mary to attribute to her any mediation in the accomplishment of this work that belongs exclusively to God.
Mater Populi Fidelis | 52. By grace, the faithful are united to Christ and participate in his Paschal Mystery, so that they may live an intimate and unique union with him, which Saint Paul expressed in these words: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
Rather than diminishing Mary's identity, Mater Populi Fidelis clarifies relationships and historical perspectives and thus it can serve to strengthen the faith of the brethren. To quote Jordan Blake,
(t)he new instruction re-centers Marian devotion on what the Church calls her incomparable grace of cooperation, a grace that leads all believers closer to Christ, not away from him.
“Mary’s incomparable greatness lies in what she has received,” the note concludes, “and in her trusting readiness to allow herself to be overtaken by the Spirit.”
In other words, her glory is found not in sharing her Son’s divine mission, but in perfectly surrendering to it.
The latest DDF offering provides a clarification of Vatican II's language. Many valid teachings from the 1960s pastoral council were misused in the 1970s to promote agendas that went against the Catholic Faith and the Church's mission—i.e., the universal call to holiness and the salvation of souls. Could it be the long awaited purification of the Church is now being manifest with the help of our Lady who is, as she always has done, pointing to her Son, Jesus, through the Church's teaching office?
Mater Populi Fidelis offers our Protestant friends a helpful bridge into the Catholic Faith by making the language and thought of the Church accessible without diminishment and by confidently presenting Apostolic Tradition (Scripture and Tradition). One can find in MPF approaches outlined by Saint John Henry Newman, Doctor of the Church, in his 1845 work, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. See Note 4 below.
Further reading:
- https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-11/doctrinal-note-mother-of-the-faithful-not-co-redemptrix.html
- https://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2025/11/cardinal-fernandez-on-doctrinal-clarity.html
- https://onepeterfive.com/on-mary-as-mediatrix-of-all-graces-by-fr-reginald-garrigou-lagrange/
- https://www.newmanreader.org/works/development/chapter5.html
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