'Christ’s unique salvific mediation': how Anglicans might read Mater Populis Fidelis
Given the necessity of explaining Mary’s subordinate role to Christ in the work of Redemption, it would not be appropriate 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, for “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12) ... it carries the risk of eclipsing the exclusive role of Jesus Christ — the Son of God made man for our salvation, who was the only one capable of offering the Father a sacrifice of infinite value ...
On the application to the Blessed Virgin of the title 'Mediatrix', while Mater Populi Fidelis only calls for "special prudence" in its usage, it importantly states that this is in light of the "clarity in the revealed Word of God" regarding Christ's mediation:
The biblical statement about Christ’s exclusive mediation is conclusive. Christ is the only Mediator, “for there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:5-6). The Church has clarified this unique place of Christ in light of the fact that he is the eternal and infinite Son of God, hypostatically united with the humanity he assumed. This is exclusive to Christ’s humanity, and the consequences that derive from it can only be properly applied to him. In this precise sense, the Incarnate Word’s role is exclusive and unique ...
Strictly speaking, we cannot talk of any other mediation in grace apart from that of the incarnate Son of God. Therefore, we must always recall, and never obscure, the Christian conviction that “must be firmly believed as a constant element of the Church’s faith” regarding “the truth of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Lord and only Savior, who through the event of his incarnation, death, and resurrection has brought the history of salvation to fulfillment, and which has in him its fullness and center.”
It is also worth referencing footnote 47's reminder that dogmatic definitions 'Mediatrix', 'Co-redemptrix', and 'Advocate' have been rejected by Roman Catholic authorities:
This affirmation of the Pontifical International Marian Academy was added to the Declaration of the Theological Commission created within the framework of the 12th International Mariological Congress (Czestochowa, 12-24 August 1996), which considered it unfitting to proceed with a dogmatic definition of Mary as “Mediatrix,” “Co-redemptrix,” and “Advocate.” Cf. Theological Commission of the Congress of Czestochowa, “Request for the Definition of the Dogma of Mary as Mediatrix, Coredemptrix and Advocate”
Despite the not inconsiderable pressure from a certain strain of popular piety, together with the support of some theologians and, notably, John Paul II, the Dicastery's judgement powerfully affirms a robust Christocentric understanding of our redemption, in which the role of the Blessed Virgin is "subordinate". In this context, the affirmations of Christ's unique and sufficient role as Redeemer and Mediator are significant:
the unique place of Christ ... Christ’s unique salvific mediation ... the only one capable of offering the Father a sacrifice of infinite value ... Christ’s exclusive mediation ... Christ is the only Mediator ... This unique place of Christ ... This is exclusive to Christ’s humanity ... Christ’s unique mediation ... Christ and his unique mediation.
This does not, of course, deny the document's articulation of conventional Roman Catholic Marian piety and doctrines. But, crucially, it does, in very explicit terms, present that piety and those doctrines as subservient to the Christological centre, and in terms that the Church of the Reformation will immediately identify and affirm. For the Churches of the Reformation, of course, Roman Catholic Marian piety and doctrines are not regarded as cohering with the Christological centre, but this is a matter secondary to that shared centre.
There are, however, two concerns worth highlighting. The first is the intervention of Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who has rejected Mater Populi Fidelis. Schneider quoted words from Pius X, declaring that the Blessed Virgin "entirely participating in His Passion … merited to become most worthily the Reparatrix of the lost world and Dispensatrix of all the gifts that Our Saviour purchased for us by His Death and by His Blood". Needless to say, for the Churches of the Reformation, and, one would assume, for Orthodoxy, such language and terminology stands as an affront to the apostolic faith, for the reason so aptly summarised by Mater Populi Fidelis - "obscuring Christ’s unique salvific mediation".
If other Roman Catholic bishops echo or support Schneider's rejection of Mater Populi Fidelis, it would be appropriate for the Anglican Communion to ask for clarification of the status of the document's teaching in light of the doctrinal and creedal significance of "Christ's exclusive mediation".
Secondly, the document should also lead Anglicans to note how the eucharistic rite of the Ordinariates, while it employs some texts from the Prayer Book tradition, has radically revised the conclusion of the Prayer for the Church Militant:
Grant these our prayers, O Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our Mediator and Advocate, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory. Amen.
This, of course, is a significant departure from the Book of Common Prayer:
Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
As Mater Populi Fidelis has no hesitation in quoting the Apostle's words in I Timothy 2:5-6, declaring that this "biblical statement about Christ’s exclusive mediation is conclusive", it would surely aid ecumenical relationships for the Ordinariate to revise its liturgy in the light of Scripture and the teaching of this document.
Anglicans reading Mater Populi Fidelis should feel a renewed sense of gratitude for the clear expressions within the Prayer Book tradition of "Christ's exclusive mediation" and of "the exclusive role of Jesus Christ" in our salvation:
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world ...
O Lord and heavenly Father, we thy humble servants entirely desire thy fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; most humbly beseeching thee to grant, that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion.
Mater Populi Fidelis reminds us that such statements are no mere Reformation-era polemic. They are, rather, the "conclusive" teaching of holy Scripture, in light of the "clarity in the revealed Word of God" on this matter. In giving robust expression to "the Christological center of the Christian faith", such texts demonstrate how the Prayer Book tradition is a profound gift to Anglicanism.
Finally, while the document is a statement of traditional Roman Catholic Marian piety, it also can be understood as pointing to how Anglicans reverence the Blessed Virgin Mary:
The Second Vatican Council reaffirmed how the devotion given to Mary should be, namely “a devotion directed to the Christological center of the Christian faith, in such a way that ‘when the Mother is honored, the Son… is duly known, loved, and glorified.’”
Because thou didst give Jesus Christ thine only Son to be born as at this time for us; who, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, was made very man of the substance of the Virgin Mary his mother; and that without spot of sin, to make us clean from all sin.
Here, then, is common Marian ground for Anglicans and Roman Catholics, despite the fact that our reverence for the Blessed Virgin is expressed - both in terms of doctrine and piety - in significantly different ways.
It is now a case of Anglicans observing how our brothers and sisters in Christ incorporate the welcome teaching of Mater Populis Fidelis into the teaching and piety of their Communion, trusting that the robust declaration of "Christ's unique salvific mediation" will aid our common confession of and witness to the Incarnate Word - and a common joy, albeit finding different expression, in the place of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mystery of salvation.
(The stained glass is the Annunciation window in Belfast Cathedral. The sculpture of The Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, by Orthodox iconographer Aidan Hart, is in Lincoln Cathedral.)
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