In 1997 Newsweek described a phenomenal movement within the Catholic Church. According to the article during the previous four years the Vatican has received 4.3 million signatures petitioning the Pope to exercise his papal infallibility and declare Mary to be “Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of all Graces and Advocate for the people of God.”
Signatures include 500 bishops, forty-two cardinals, and notables such as Mother Teresa, John O’ Conner of New York, and several cardinals serving in the Vatican itself. They all believe that: 1) Mary participates in the redemption of sinners with Christ. 2) That all saving graces come to us through Mary’s intercession. And 3) that all the prayers and petitions of the saints must flow through Mary.
This was not merely a populist uprising within the ranks of Catholicism. Rather, it is rooted in many of the proclamations of the church leaders. .
- Pope Benedict XV, Inter Sodalicia
"Mary . . . offered her Son to placate divine justice; so we may well say that she with Christ redeemed mankind."
Near the end of the 19th century, Pope Leo XIII taught:
As no man goeth to the Father but by the Son, so no man goeth to Christ but by His Mother. (Octobri Mense)[1]
The Catholic Catechism written in the last decade affirms this high view of Mary when it endorses the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.(969)
In the words of Solomon, there is nothing new under the sun. Our reformed Fathers saw similar theological deviancy and called the church to see Christ as the exclusive mediator between God and man. This is the doctrine of Solus Christus.
The Apostle Paul could not say it any better in:
1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
Christ alone gives us full access to the Father. Thus, there is no need to pray to the Saints, pray to Mary, nor do you need the intercession of the Saints to push you through purgatory. Christ plus nothing is more than enough. He is the only mediator we need to secure our salvation.
Dave Hintz
[1] This is an encyclical in defense of the Rosary. http://www.tomsdomain.com/rosary/id24.htm July 26, 2005
