In an April 3, 2020 homily, Pope Francis said that Mary never wished to take any title from her Son, who is the one Redeemer: «The Madonna did not wish to take any title from Jesus; she received the gift of being his Mother and the duty to accompany us as Mother, to be our Mother. She did not ask for herself to be a quasi-redemptrix or a co-redemptrix: no. The Redeemer is only one and this title does not duplicate itself. She is only disciple and Mother. And thus, as Mother we must think of her, we must seek her, we must pray to her. She is the Mother; in the Mother Church. In the maternity of the Madonna we see the maternity of the Church who receives all, the good and the bad: all».
Pope Francis is absolutely correct. The Blessed Mother never asked to be a quasi-redemptrix or a co-redemptrix. He’s also correct that in the strict, univocal sense the title Redeemer cannot be duplicated. Jesus is the divine Redeemer, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29). In an analogical sense, however, human beings can participate in the work of redemption by uniting their sufferings to that of Christ.
Jesus is the one Redeemer and also the one Mediator between God and the human race (1 Tim 2:5). Vatican II, however, teaches that “the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation, which is but a sharing in this one source” (Lumen gentium, 62). The title co-redemptrix when applied to Mary must never take anything away from Jesus the one divine Redeemer of the human race. Jesus is the God-man, and Mary is a human creature. Mary’s role in the work of redemption must always be understood as secondary, subordinate, and totally dependent on her divine Son. As St. Louis de Montfort explains, God “never had and does not now have any absolute need of the Blessed Virgin for the accomplishment of his will and the manifestation of his glory” (True Devotion, 14). The saving work of Jesus was all-sufficient, but God willed Mary’s collaboration in the redemption in a unique and singular way.
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The homily of Pope Francis for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, 2019 has generated renewed interest and controversy over the Marian title of Co-redemptrix. The Holy Father’s homily was given in Spanish in a spontaneous ex tempore manner. In the homily, he made one reference to the title of co-redemptrix: “Faithful to her Master, who is her Son, the unique Redeemer, she never wanted to take anything away from her Son. She never introduced herself as ‘co-redemptrix.’ No. “disciple” (Fiel a su Maestro, que es su Hijo, el único Redentor, jamás quiso para sí tomar algo de su Hijo. Jamás se presentó como co-redentora. No, discípula.).
Pope Francis is completely accurate in stating that Mary never “introduced herself” as “co-redemptrix,” neither in the context of the Annunciation nor in the historical events at Guadalupe, the subject of his homily. This, though, does not in itself deny the doctrinal legitimacy of the co-redemptrix title when it is used with its proper meaning in referring to the unique participation of Mary in the historical Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ, the only divine Redeemer.
The Holy Father is likewise entirely accurate when he states that “she never wanted to take away anything from her Son.” Fortunately, when Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Pius XI before him repeatedly used the title, “co-redemptrix” for Our Lady, they did not seek to take anything from Jesus and give it to Mary, but rather to identify Mary’s unique cooperation in the redemptive work accomplished by Christ.
There is nothing in Pope Francis’s homily of December 12 that rejects Marian coredemption. From prior statements of his, it’s clear that he affirms this doctrine. In his morning meditation for the Solemnity of the Annunciation in 2016, Pope Francis states: “Today is the celebration of the ‘yes’… Indeed, in Mary’s ‘yes’ there is the ‘yes’ of all of salvation history and there begins the ultimate ‘yes’ of man and of God: there God re-creates, as at the beginning, with a ‘yes’, God made the earth and man, that beautiful creation: with this ‘yes’ I come to do your will and more wonderfully he re-creates the world, he re-creates us all”. Pope Francis recognizes Mary’s “yes” as an expression of her active role in salvation history—a role that we can call coredemptive. During his January 26, 2019 vigil with young people in Panama, the Holy Father spoke of Mary as “the most influential woman in history.” He also referred to the Blessed Virgin as the “influencer of God.” Mary influenced God by saying yes to his invitation and by trusting in his promises.
Pope Francis also affirms Mary’s union with the salvific mission of Christ up to his death on Cross and in the life of the Church. In his general audience of October 23, 2013, he notes that every action of the Blessed Virgin “was carried out in perfect union with Jesus. This union finds its culmination on Calvary: here Mary is united to the Son in the martyrdom of her heart and in the offering of his life to the Father for the salvation of humanity. Our Lady shared in the pain of the Son and accepted with him the will of the Father, in that obedience that bears fruit, that grants the true victory over evil and death.” The Holy Father also points out that “Mary’s ‘yes’, already perfect from the start, grew until the hour of the Cross. There her motherhood opened to embrace every one of us, our lives, so as to guide us to her Son.” Here we see Pope Francis affirming not only Mary’s fruitful participation in Christ’s suffering and sacrifice on the Cross but also her universal spiritual motherhood that embraces every one of us.
Some people believe Pope Francis rejected the Marian title co-redemptrix as foolishness in his December 12, 2019 homily. This, though, was not the case. In the text of the homily, the reference to foolishness comes six paragraphs after the reference to “co-redemptrix.” The Holy Father says: “When they come to us with stories about having to declare this, or make this or that other dogma, let’s not get lost in foolishness. Mary is woman, she is Our Lady, Mary is the Mother of her Son and of the Holy Mother hierarchical Church …” (Cuando nos vengan con historias de que había que declararla esto, o hacer este otro dogma o esto, no nos perdamos en tonteras: María es mujer, es Nuestra Señora, María es Madre de su Hijo y de la Santa Madre Iglesia jerárquica … ). Pope Francis wishes to warn us not to lose ourselves in foolishness by being so concerned with new Marian dogmas that we forget what is essential about Mary as woman, mother, and Mother of the Church. Pope Francis wants to highlight Mary as our Mother and the Mother of the Church. This is manifested by a book entitled She is My Mother: Pope Francis Encounters Mary, based on some interviews of the Holy Father by Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello, now secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life.
The authentic Marian character of Pope Francis’ pontificate is evident, for example: in his approval of the obligatory memorial of Mary, “Mother of the Church,” with its profound pneumatological significance on the Monday after Pentecost; his spreading of the powerful devotion of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots globally; his elevation of the liturgical celebration of Our Lady of Loreto to the universal calendar; his repeated teaching on the importance of the Rosary; his Marian devotional witness by beginning and ending every international journey by bringing flowers and praying before Our Lady ‘s renowned “Salus Populi Romani” icon at St. Mary Major in Rome; his fervent devotion and pilgrimage to Our Lady of Fatima; his repeated (and potentially ecumenically threatening) motto that “A Christian without Mary is an orphan;” his recent repeated references to Our Lady as the “Mother of All Peoples” (October 20, 2019; Dec. 8, 2019), which is the overall Marian doctrine requested to be solemnly defined as dogma.
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