The American Mariologist Mark Miravalle, president of the Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici movement, has lamented the confusion generated after the publication of the document Mater populi fidelis, issued on November 4 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). In this note, the Vatican body discourages the use of the title Co-Redemptrix for the Virgin Mary and recommends avoiding expressions that “obscure the unique salvific mediation of Christ”.
In statements to La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, Miravalle—professor of Mariology at Franciscan University of Steubenville—defended the theological and traditional validity of the titles Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate, and recalled that millions of faithful and hundreds of bishops have asked the Holy See for a dogmatic definition on Mary’s maternal and redemptive role.
“The title does not place Mary on the level of Christ”
Miravalle acknowledges the intention of the DDF document to reaffirm the absolute primacy of Jesus Christ as the sole Redeemer, but warns that denying the use of the title Co-Redemptrix has generated confusion among the faithful. “It has never been used in the Catholic tradition or in papal Magisterium to place Mary on the level of the divinity of Jesus. Doing so would be heresy and blasphemy,” he emphasized.
The theologian recalled that St. John Paul II used the title Co-Redemptrix on seven occasions, as did saints such as St. Pio of Pietrelcina, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. John Henry Newman, and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. “A title that has served to express Mary’s unique collaboration with and under Christ in the work of redemption cannot be considered ‘inopportune’,” he added.
Dogmas also require explanation
The DDF argues that the term “Co-Redemptrix” is inconvenient because it requires constant explanations. Miravalle responds that other fundamental dogmas—such as the Immaculate Conception or Transubstantiation—also demand theological clarifications, and yet they have not been abandoned for that reason. “That a title requires explanation does not mean it should be discarded, especially if it has been used by popes, saints, and Doctors of the Church,” the professor noted.
The “new Eve” and the doctrine of co-redemption
The Mariologist recalled that from the early centuries the Church Fathers saw Mary as the “new Eve”. He cited St. Irenaeus of Lyon, who taught that “just as Eve was secondary but decisive alongside Adam in the fall, Mary was so alongside Christ in the redemption.” Vatican II— he added—reaffirms this teaching in Lumen Gentium 56, where it is said that Mary “by her obedience became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” “That subordinate and decisive role of Mary with the new Adam is precisely the meaning of the title Co-Redemptrix,” he explained.
Ecumenism and doctrinal truth
The DDF document also states that the use of these titles could hinder ecumenical dialogue. Miravalle recalls that the 1962 draft of Vatican II’s Marian text included the title Co-Redemptrix, and that a subcommittee removed it out of pastoral prudence, not theological error. “The Council itself recognized that the expression ‘Co-Redemptrix of the human race’ is in itself very true,” he noted. In his view, the unity of Christians should not be sought at the cost of minimizing the full truth about Mary, as St. John Paul II taught in Ut Unum Sint. “The Virgin is the Mother of unity, not an obstacle to it,” he insisted.
Mary Mediatrix of All Graces
The theologian also questions the DDF’s doubt about the title Mediatrix of All Graces. He recalls that for four centuries the popes have upheld this teaching, from Benedict XIV (1749) to Leo XIV, who on August 15, 2025, expressly used the term Mediatrix gratiarum in a letter to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. “The Magisterium has taught that all of Christ’s redemptive graces reach humanity through Mary’s maternal mediation,” he explained, lamenting that the document “does not cite this constant papal teaching even once.”
A call for the fifth Marian dogma
Miravalle considers that the controversy arising after Mater populi fidelis has reignited interest in a dogmatic definition that proclaims Mary Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate. “The current confusion demonstrates the need for a solemn definition that clarifies who Mary is and what her cooperation with Christ means,” he affirmed.
The movement he presides over, Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici, has collected more than eight million signatures in 150 countries, backed by some 700 bishops and cardinals, in favor of this fifth Marian dogma. Miravalle concludes by recalling Cardinal John Henry Newman, who held that “ecclesiastical authority must listen to the faithful in the discernment of doctrinal development.” “I pray that the Holy See practices authentic synodality, listening to the people of God who ask to honor the Mother of the Redeemer,” he said.