The Vatican has directed Catholics worldwide to stop referring to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, as “co-redeemer,” emphasising that only Jesus is the Saviour of the world.
This instruction is contained in a new Vatican decree approved by Pope Leo, which revises several titles traditionally used by Catholics to describe Mary. Among these are the popular appellations “co-redemptrix” and “mediatrix.”
In the decree, the Vatican clarified that Mary played only a subordinate role in the work of salvation.
“Given the necessity of explaining Mary’s subordinate role to Christ in the work of Redemption, it is always inappropriate to use the title ‘Co-redemptrix’ to define Mary’s cooperation.
“This title risks obscuring Christ’s unique salvific mediation and can therefore create confusion and an imbalance in the harmony of the truths of the Christian faith… it does not serve the faith of the People of God and becomes unhelpful,” the text read.
The Vatican further affirmed that neither the Church nor Mary can replace or perfect the redemptive work of Jesus.
On the use of “mediatrix,” the decree explained that Scripture clearly establishes Christ’s exclusive role as Mediator. While acknowledging that Mary fulfilled a genuine mediatory role by enabling the birth of Christ, it stressed that her participation was “in a clearly subordinate manner.”
The Vatican added that these clarifications are not new, noting that the late Pope Francis had on at least three occasions firmly rejected the use of such titles.
“Christ is the Mediator, the bridge that we cross to turn to the Father. He is the only Redeemer: there are no co-redeemers with Christ. He is the Mediator par excellence,” Francis had said in 2021.
