In his article “Quis ut Virgo?” published in Corrispondenza Romana, the historian Roberto de Mattei strongly denounces the new “doctrinal note” of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and titled Mater Populi Fidelis.
The text, presented on November 4 at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome —on purpose, to avoid the press—, aims to “clarify the correct meaning of Marian titles” and determine to what extent expressions such as “Co-Redemptrix” or “Mediatrix” may be acceptable.
According to De Mattei, this document, under a pastorally kind tone, hides a poisonous content: by stripping the Virgin of the titles that express her singular participation in the Redemption, the Vatican joins the post-conciliar mariological drift, which seeks—in the name of balance—to reduce the supernatural to a psychological or merely human category.
“The Dicastery of the Faith —writes De Mattei— wants to strip Most Holy Mary of the titles of Co-Redemptrix and Universal Mediatrix of all graces, reducing her to a woman like any other: ‘mother of the faithful’, ‘mother of Jesus’, ‘companion of the Church’. As if the Mother of God could be enclosed in a human category, stripping her of her supernatural mystery”
From Marie Antoinette to Most Holy Mary: the reflection of profaned royalty
The author opens his reflection by evoking the execution of Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. He quotes Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira and Edmund Burke to show how the destruction of the Christian order began with the hatred of royalty as a symbol of God.
In the same way —he affirms—, today the Queen of Heaven is attacked, attempting to “decapitate” her on the doctrinal level by depriving her of the titles that express her dignity.
“Marie Antoinette represented earthly royalty, a reflection of the divine, but her throne collapsed under revolutionary fury. Most Holy Mary, on the other hand, is Universal Queen not by human right, but by divine grace: her throne is in the heart of God”
De Mattei turns to St. Louis Mary Grignion de Montfort and St. Bernardino of Siena to recall that all grace passes from God to Christ, from Christ to the Virgin, and from the Virgin to men. Mary does not compete with her Son, but cooperates instrumentally in the work of salvation, being Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces.
A Catholic defense against theological minimalism
The article concludes with a combative and hopeful tone. In the face of the “doctrinal decapitation” of the Virgin, De Mattei calls for a “small army of priests and laity” willing to wield “the sword of Truth” to proclaim Mary’s privileges and exclaim boldly: “Who like the Virgin?” —Quis ut Virgo?
The author interprets the Dicastery’s document as a test for the faithful and, paradoxically, as a providential instrument:
“As always happens in history —he writes—, when one tries to obscure the light, error ends up confirming the greatness of the truth it wanted to deny”