Pope Leo approves decree saying co-redeemer title risks eclipsing exclusive role of Jesus in saving humanity
Pope Leo has instructed Catholics not to refer to Mary as having helped her son Jesus save the world from damnation, amid the spread of an exaggerated worship of the Madonna, often on social media, that has emboldened claims of apparitions, weeping statues and self-styled prophets.
A decree from the Vatican’s doctrinal office approved by the pontiff says Jesus alone saved humanity from hellfire and therefore Catholics must not call Mary the “co-redeemer” or “co-redemptrix”, ending a long-running debate among church scholars that has even divided popes.
It says Jesus saved the world through his sacrificial death on the cross and that while Mary paved the way for the redemption by giving birth to him, she was not a “co-redeemer”.
The late Pope Francis was vehemently against calling Mary a “co-redeemer”, saying in 2019 that it was “foolishness” because “she never wanted take anything for herself from her son”.
