The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has published the doctrinal Note “Mater Populi fidelis. On some Marian titles referring to Mary's cooperation in the work of salvation”, a text of more than 50 pages that exhorts avoiding the use of the title “Co-Redemptrix” for the Virgin Mary and calls for “special prudence” with the term “Mediatrix”. The document was approved by Pope Leo XIV on October 7, the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, and is signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect, and Msgr. Armando Matteo, secretary of the Doctrinal Section.
The Note states that, “taking into account the need to explain Mary's subordinate role to Christ in the work of Redemption, the use of the title Co-Redemptrix to define Mary's cooperation is always inopportune”. The Dicastery warns that this term “runs the risk of obscuring Christ's unique saving mediation” and that, when an expression requires constant clarifications to avoid misunderstandings, “it becomes inconvenient” and does not serve the faith of the People of God. At the same time, it insists that recognizing the singular role of the Mother does not place her on a parallel plane to Christ, but in total dependence on Him and at the service of the mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption.
On the historical level, the text recalls that “Co-Redemptrix” appears in the 15th century as a correction of the invocation “Redeemer” and that its use expanded in the first half of the 20th century. However, the Second Vatican Council chose not to use it for dogmatic, pastoral, and ecumenical reasons. Although St. John Paul II used the expression in spiritual contexts, the then-prefect Joseph Ratzinger rejected in 1996 the request to define a dogma on “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix of all graces” due to a lack of clear basis in Scripture and apostolic Tradition; later he described the term as “erroneous word”. The document also quotes Pope Francis, who on at least three occasions expressed his rejection: “There is only one Redeemer and this title is not duplicated”.
Regarding “Mediatrix”, the Note reaffirms with conviction the biblical teaching: “Christ is the one Mediator” (1 Tim 2:5-6). Any application of the concept to Mary must be understood in a strictly subordinate and participatory way, never as a parallel mediation. Hence, it proposes speaking of “participated mediation” and, above all, of Mary's spiritual motherhood or “Mother of believers”, categories that illuminate her cooperation without obscuring Christ's absolute centrality. In this line, it specifies that “no human person, not even the apostles or the Most Holy Virgin, can act as a universal dispenser of grace”: only God communicates grace through the humanity of Christ.
The Dicastery values popular Marian devotion—a treasure of the Church that the text seeks to sustain—but warns about the proliferation of “Marian reflection groups, publications, new devotions, and even requests for new dogmas” that are intensely expressed on social media and can sow doubts among the simpler faithful. It calls for discerning which expressions favor a harmonious contemplation of the Christian message and which should be avoided, including the title “Mediatrix of all graces” when understood as if grace “passed” necessarily through Mary, or as if she were a “lightning rod” before divine justice, weakening the unique worship due to Christ.
It is noteworthy that, at a time when large regions of the Catholic world are experiencing a crisis of faith, with empty churches, almost deserted seminaries, and doctrine increasingly diluted, the Vatican devotes so much effort to clarifying theological concepts that hardly concern the faithful people. While the Church struggles to keep the transmission of faith alive, this Note seems to respond more to an academic debate than to a pastoral urgency. One wonders if, with a Church in ruins on so many fronts, such a specific clarification on a title so debated was necessary.