Pope Leo XIV dedicated the catechesis of this Wednesday’s general audience to the Virgin Mary as a model of the Church, resuming the teaching of the Second Vatican Council contained in the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium. In his reflection, the Pontiff expressly emphasized that Jesus Christ is the “only mediator of salvation” and recalled that Mary’s mission never obscures or substitutes Christ’s unique mediation.
The catechesis took place in St. Peter’s Square before thousands of pilgrims and was part of the cycle of teachings that the Pope is dedicating to the documents of the Second Vatican Council. On this occasion, Leo XIV centered his meditation on chapter VIII of Lumen gentium, dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Mary, Model and Mother of the Church
The Pope recalled that the Council presents Mary as an “outstanding and totally unique member of the Church,” as well as the “most perfect model” of faith and charity.
As Leo XIV explained, the Virgin represents what the Church is called to be: a community docile to the action of the Holy Spirit and fully open to God’s plan.
The Pontiff also defined Mary as a “woman icon of the Mystery,” an expression with which he wanted to highlight both the concrete and historical dimension of the Mother of God and her full cooperation with the divine plan of salvation.
In this context, the Pope insisted on Mary’s maternal dimension with respect to the entire Church, affirming that the faithful can approach her “with filial confidence, in the certainty of being heard, guarded, and loved.”
Mary’s Mediation Subordinate to Christ
One of the central points of the catechesis was the explanation of the place occupied by the Virgin Mary in the work of Redemption. Quoting Lumen gentium directly, Leo XIV recalled that “the only mediator of salvation is Jesus Christ.”
Following the guidelines of the doctrinal note «Mater populis fidelis,» the Pope added that Mary’s mission “in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its efficacy,” literally resuming the conciliar teaching on Marian mediation.
Leo XIV also explained that the Virgin “cooperated in a totally special way in the work of the Savior” through “obedience, faith, hope, and ardent charity,” which is why the Church recognizes her as “mother in the order of grace.”
Mary and the Mystery of the Church
During the catechesis, Leo XIV also explained that in the Virgin Mary “the mystery of the Church is reflected,” since in her the people of God find represented “its origin, its model, and its homeland.”
The Pope affirmed that the Church contemplates in Mary the model of faith, maternal charity, and spousal covenant with God to which every Christian is called.
In concluding his reflection, Leo XIV invited the faithful to ask themselves if they live “with humble and active faith” their belonging to the Church and encouraged them to look to Mary as “model, outstanding member, and mother of the Church.”
Remembrance of Fatima and St. John Paul II
The audience also coincided with the liturgical memory of Our Lady of Fatima and the 45th anniversary of the assassination attempt against St. John Paul II.
In the greeting addressed to Portuguese-speaking pilgrims, the Pope recalled the message of peace entrusted by the Virgin to the little shepherds of Fatima and asked to entrust to the Immaculate Heart of Mary “the clamor for peace and concord” that rises from the regions of the world affected by war.
Likewise, in the greeting to English-speaking pilgrims, Leo XIV evoked the assassination attempt suffered by St. John Paul II on May 13, 1981, and explained that for this reason he had wanted to dedicate this Wednesday’s catechesis to the Virgin Mary.
We leave the full text with Leo XIV’s catechesis:
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
The Second Vatican Council wished to dedicate the last chapter of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church to the Virgin Mary (cf. Lumen gentium, 52-69). She, “proclaimed as the most excellent and entirely unique member of the Church and as the most perfect type and exemplar of the same in faith and charity” (n. 53). These words invite us to understand how in Mary, who under the action of the Holy Spirit has welcomed and generated the Son of God made flesh, one can recognize both the model, the outstanding member, and the mother of the entire ecclesial community.
By allowing herself to be shaped by the work of Grace, come to fulfillment in her, and by welcoming the gift of the Most High with her faith and virginal love, Mary is the perfect model of what the entire Church is called to be: creature of the Lord’s Word and mother of God’s children, generated in docility to the action of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, as the believer par excellence, where the perfect form of unconditional openness to the divine mystery in the communion of God’s holy people is offered to us, Mary is an outstanding member of the ecclesial community. Finally, as she generates children in the Son, loved in the eternal Beloved come among us, Mary is mother of the entire Church, to whom she can turn with filial confidence, in the certainty of being heard, guarded, and loved.
The whole of these characteristics of the Virgin Mary could be expressed by speaking of her as the woman icon of the Mystery. With the term woman, the historical concreteness of this young daughter of Israel is highlighted, to whom the extraordinary experience of becoming the mother of the Messiah has been given. With the expression icon, it is emphasized that in her the double movement of descent and ascent is fulfilled: in her shine both God’s free choice and the free consent of faith in him. Mary is therefore the woman icon of the Mystery, that is, of the divine plan of salvation, hidden in an age and revealed in fullness in Jesus Christ.
The Council has left us a clear teaching on the place reserved for the Virgin Mary in the work of Redemption (cf. Lumen gentium, 60-62). It has recalled that the only Mediator of salvation is Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Tm 2:5-6) and that his Most Holy Mother “does not obscure or diminish in any way this unique mediation of Christ, but rather serves to demonstrate its power” (LG, 60). At the same time, “the Most Holy Virgin, predestined from eternity as Mother of God together with the Incarnation of the Word, […] cooperated in an entirely unique way in the work of the Savior with obedience, faith, hope, and ardent charity in order to restore the supernatural life of souls. For this reason, she is our mother in the order of grace” (ibid., 61).
In the Virgin Mary, the mystery of the Church is also reflected: in her the people of God find represented its origin, its model, and its homeland. In the Mother of the Lord, the Church contemplates its own mystery, not only because it rediscovers the model of virginal faith, maternal charity, and spousal covenant to which it is called, but also and above all because it recognizes in her its own archetype, the ideal figure of what it is called to be.
As can be seen, the reflections on the Virgin Mary gathered in the Lumen gentium, teach us to love the Church and to serve in it the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God that is to come and that will be fully realized in glory.
Let us therefore allow ourselves to be questioned by such a sublime model that is Mary, Virgin and Mother, and let us ask her to help us with her intercession to respond to what is asked of us through her example: Do I live with humble and active faith my belonging to the Church? Do I recognize the community of the covenant that God has given me to correspond to his infinite love? Do I look to Mary as model, outstanding member, and mother of the Church, and ask her to help me be a faithful disciple of her Son?
Brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit, who descended upon Mary and invoked by us with humility and confidence, grant us to live fully these wonderful realities. And, after having delved into the Constitution Lumen gentium, let us ask the Virgin to grant us this gift: may love for the Holy Mother Church grow in all of us. So be it!