In October 2025, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published the Note, Mater Populi Fidelis, raising many questions about Mary’s titles and doctrines: Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix.

Without denying the title, Mother of God, the text tends to strip Mary’s unique role in the work of Redemption of its substance by reducing it to that of a mere disciple. This Note has troubled many faithful, torn between their obedience to the Church and their faith in the role of the Blessed Virgin. Fortunately, there is no need for such a conflict. The present synthesis aims to restore peace, and shows that keeping these roles of Mary is in fact a fully obedient attitude to the Church.

On the question of obedience, we can stress two preliminary points: One: The Pope signed the Note without forma specifica, which means that he authorized publication of the text but without committing his own authority and therefore without giving it any binding force. Two:  These two Doctrines on Mary have been taught regularly since the beginnings of the Church by Doctors, Saints, Popes and are therefore part of the constant and universal Magisterium of the Church and cannot be modified.

This Note from the Dicastery has no real Magisterial scope, and the faithful can therefore legitimately disregard it, as several bishops and cardinals have already done. It does, however, offer a good opportunity to deepen our understanding of Mary’s two essential roles in our faith.

Mary, Mediatrix of all Graces

It begins in the Gospel at the Visitation: it was through Mary that the Savior was brought to Elizabeth, since it was only through Mary that He could come.
This was her first act as Mediatrix of Christ’s grace.
Next, at the Wedding Feast of Cana, Mary again acts as Mediatrix, obtaining from Jesus His first miracle of changing water into wine and the start of His public mission.
This Doctrine was then taught over the centuries by numerous Doctors and saints: Saint Ephrem the Syrian (4th C.), Saint Bernard de Clairvaux (12th C.), Saint Bonaventure (13th C.), Saint Brigitte (14th C.), Saint Bernardine of Siena (15th C.), Saint François de Sales (17th C.), Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (17th C.), Saint John Eudes (17th C.), Saint Alphonsus Liguori (18th C.), Saint Maximilian Kolbe (20th C.) and many others.

« All graces are distributed by the hands of Mary. » (Saint Bernardin de Sienne, Sermones)

Many popes have validated this doctrine: Pius IX (Ubi Primum, 1849), Leo XIII (Octobri mense, 1891), Saint Pius X (Ad diem Illum, 1904), Benedict XV (Inter Sodalicia1918), Pius XI (Auspicia quaedam, 1948), Pius XII (Haurietis Aquas, 1956), Paul VI (Signum Magnum, 1967) and John Paul II (Redemptoris Mater, 1987).

” … by the Will of God, Mary is the intermediary through whom this immense treasure of graces is distributed to us, accumulated by God.. » ( Léon XIII, Octobri mense, 1891).

Finally, this constant teaching of the Magisterium has been confirmed by the Blessed Virgin herself during the apparitions at Rue du Bac (1830). On the Miraculous Medal, the rays of light streaming from Mary’s hands represent the graces of Christ dispensed through her:

« These rays are the symbol of the graces I spread on the people who ask me for them. »
(Notre Dame, rue du Bac, November 27, 1830) .

The right doctrinal understanding of Mary, Mediatrix of all Graces, as taught by the Saints and Popes, raises no difficulty: God alone is the source of all graces but He wanted to dispense them to men via His Mother. Mary is not the origin, but the Mediatrix.

Mary, Co-Redemptrix

Here too, Mary’s role is rooted in the Gospel, at the Annunciation and Passion (see explanation below). It was then taught from the earliest centuries by the Fathers of the Church, and later by numerous Saints: St. Irenaeus (2nd C.), Saint Ephrem (4th C.), Saint Ambrose (4th C.), Saint Bonaventure (13th C.), Saint Bernardin (15th C.), Saint François de Sales (17th C.), Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (17th C.), Saint John Eudes (17th C.), Saint Alphonsus Liguori (18th C.), Saint John Henry Newman (19th C.), Saint Maximilian Kolbe (20th C.). They all explained this doctrine and some used the very title of Co-Redemptrix.

« Thus Mary becomes one with Christ; she is the Co-Redemptrix of the human race. »
(Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Niepokalanów Conferences, 1937)

From the end of the 19th century, several Popes, went on to teach Mary’s role as Co-Redemptrix: Leo XIII (Octobri mense, 1891);  Saint Pius X (Ad diem illum, 1904); Pius XII (Haurietis Aquas, 1956);  Benedict XVI confirmed the doctrine, but did not comment on the word itself, whereas Benedict XV (Inter Sodalicia, 1918);  Pius XI (speeches given in 1933 and 1935) and John Paul II (speeches given in 1980 and 1996) explicitly used the title of Co-Redemptrix.

« The Blessed Virgin, very intimately united with Christ the Redeemer, was also united with him in the work of the Redemption of the human race, as Co-Redemptrix » (Pie XI, Oss. Romano , April 29, 1935)

Co-Redemption is easier to understand than many other teachings of the Catholic faith. Rather than refute it as “complex,” it is better to explain it. Here’s a summary accessible to all the faithful:

In the work of Redemption, the role of the Blessed Virgin and that of Our Lord are distinct. Christ is the only Son of God and the only Redeemer. Mary, a human creature, cooperates in the work of Redemption, without being the cause and in a role where the primacy of Christ remains intact. However, Mary’s cooperation is of such a unique and essential order that the ordinary meaning of the term cooperation can’t express its scope. There are two main reasons for this:

• Her fiat, without which the Incarnation and, consequently, the Redemption, could not have been accomplished.  Fiat lies at the very heart of the mystery of Redemption.

« God wanted to wait for the Virgin’s consent through whom the world would receive salvation. »
(Saint Thomas Aquinas, Expositio super salutatione angelica §3)

• Her perfect union with the sufferings of Christ, a union absolutely unique because of her maternal bond and the total purity of her Immaculate Heart. Saint John Eudes teaches that the Hearts of Jesus and Mary are so deeply united that they form, mystically, a single Heart.

« The pain in the Heart of Mary was so intertwined with that of Jesus that they formed a single martyrdom: two Hearts together undergoing the Passion, one in the body, the other in the soul. » (Saint Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary, II, 5)

Therefore, the basic idea of cooperation, which applies to the salvation of all men, does not adequately express the theological and important role of Mary in the work of Redemption. The title, Co-Redemptrix, alone can suffice to describe this unique participation, willed by God. The difference between cooperation and redemption is not a question of vocabulary but a difference in the theological nature of Mary’s role.

Conclusion

Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort admirably sums up the mission of the Blessed Virgin, as taught by the Church’s constant Magisterium: ” To Jesus through Mary“. This motto embraces both doctrines.

In her role as Mediatrix of all graces, Mary dispenses to our souls the graces we need to go to Jesus. Through her role as Co-Redemptrix, she brings us into a unique understanding of the mystery of the Cross, enabling us to unite more closely with the sufferings of her divine Son, the only Redeemer and source of all graces.