Co-Redemptrix si, dogma no

By Peter Wolfgang ( bio - articles - email ) | Nov 15, 2025

I believe that the Virgin Mary is the Co-Redemptrix. And I think Rome was quite right not to define her as such. For all (or most) of the reasons the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) stated in Mater Populi Fidelis (“The Mother of the Faithful People of God”).

The reactions against Mater Populi Fidelis are, to my eyes, overwrought. The DDF did not declare the Co-Redemptrix or Mediatrix titles heretical. They didn’t even forbid Catholics from using those titles. They simply discouraged it and refused to formally define it, to declare a fifth Marian dogma.

I believe Mary is the Co-Redemptrix properly understood. But there is no way that title was ever going to be properly understood. As Phil Lawler wrote:

The prefix “co-” can suggest equality. If I am “co-owner” of a house, that suggests that someone else has equal title; if I am “co-author” of a book, that means I did not write the book alone. But Jesus wrought our salvation by his Sacrifice alone. As the DDF document rightly remarks, Mary “was herself redeemed by Christ and transformed by the Spirit, prior to any possible action of her own.”

Which is why, although I believe she is the Co-Redemptrix the way the title is actually intended, I rarely, if ever, refer to her by that title. In fact, almost no one does.

Oh yes, I know, there have been saints and other authoritative Church figures who have used the title. But how often do you hear the average Catholic on the street refer to her by that title? My only personal experience of it are the Friars of the Immaculate, who have a beautiful friary here in Connecticut and are one of the groups that petitioned Rome to define Co-Redemptrix to be the fifth Marian dogma.

My only other experience of the Co-Redemptrix title comes from Catholic-friendly Protestant friends who have always been freaked out by the possibility that Rome might one day declare it to be dogma. One of them wrote to me almost immediately after Pope Francis was elected in 2013, asking if he was going to do it. (It’s hard to remember this from the perspective of 2025—there has been so much water under the bridge since then—but one of the most-commented upon things about Pope Francis in his early pontificate was an old school spirituality—devotion to Our Lady, awareness of the devil—that was thought to be due to his Third World origins.) Another Protestant friend wrote me right away for my thoughts after Mater Populi Fidelis was published. “I think this [the document] removes the main barriers, not erects new ones,” he wrote.

That is exactly right. I am sorry that it sets some of our faithful Catholic friends’ teeth on edge. Yes, the timing is odd—especially when the Church faces much more immediate challenges. Yes, the after-effects of the Francis pontificate undermine trust in the judgment of the DDF, not least given the strange history of its Cardinal-Prefect, Víctor Manuel Fernández. Yes, it is odd that the DDF would worry about causing confusion to Protestants when they seem in recent years to be just fine with confusing faithful Catholics. But seeking greater unity with our separated brethren is not nothing—again, if it is a unity properly understood. That is, not compromising on the faith—but not putting new obstacles in their way either. As Joseph Ratzinger said, and as the DDF cited him as saying, these titles really need to germinate more, to be understood more—before there is any formal declaration of them as dogmas (if ever).

Here is what I recommend instead, for those of us who do understand the titles of Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix properly. Remember that this is a reality stemming from Jesus Christ himself and from his Resurrection. And that, while Mary’s role as Mediatrix is unique to her, we all have a role to play as mediators.

If we unite all our actions to Christ, those actions can be apostolic. If we have the same heart as Our Lord, he will be able to do miracles through us. This is true of anything we do out of love.

So let’s not despise the little things. Those little things are ubiquitous, I know. But in the economy of salvation, everything is big.

Our Lord told us not to worry. “Behold the lilies of the field.” If we give up control, we will be co-redeemers. If we do not block the grace God wishes to give to us—to give to others through us—in our family, in our workplace, and elsewhere.

In his 2021 book In the Light of the Gospel: Short Meditations Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, the prelate of Opus Dei, suggests we offer this aspiration:

Between the two of us, Jesus, let’s do this.

That’s exactly right. Being on the same page, keeping up with God, following him, following the motions of the Holy Spirit. Let’s all be mediators of the One Mediator.