Mother of All Peoples

The Case for Defining Mary’s Spiritual Motherhood

Almost one hundred years ago, the prominent Belgian prelate Cardinal Desire Mercier began an international petition drive for the papal definition of Our Lady as the Universal Mediatrix of all graces. By 1918, the renowned pioneer of both Marian and ecumenical realms had collected over 300 cardinal and bishop petitions directed to the reigning pontiff, Pope Benedict XV, for this requested fifth Marian Dogma. By the early 1920’s, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe and his nascent “Militia Immaculatae” (“Army of the Immaculate”) joined in the movement to proclaim the Mother of Jesus as the Spiritual Mother of all peoples.

What inspired Mercier and St. Maximilian to initiate a global call of support to the Holy Father to make an infallible statement regarding Mary’s relationship with you and me?

Grace and Precedence.

Of the four existing Marian dogmas, Mary’s Motherhood of God, her Perpetual Virginity, her Immaculate Conception, and her Assumption, the last two…

May 2013 Letter Campaign to Pope Francis For the Dogma of Mary’s Spiritual Motherhood

May God be praised for the pontificate of Pope Francis! Truly the Holy Spirit was at work in the choosing of this man to guide the People of God at this pivotal moment in history of the Church and of the world.  During the first weeks of his pontificate, Pope Francis has already manifested his extraordinary love and devotion to the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all peoples.
As you know, his very first papal act was to pray before Our Lady’s altar at Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica. During his first few Angelus addresses, Pope Francis has already referred to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Suffering Virgin” (March 24) and further instructed: “Let us invoke the intercession of Mary who is the woman who said “yes.” Mary said “yes,” all her life! …Mary, Our Mother, help us to know better the voice of Jesus and follow it,…

“Petition the Holy Father For This Dogma”

“Once more I am here, – The Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate is now standing before you. I have chosen this day: on this day the Lady will be crowned. Theologians and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ listen carefully: I have given you the explanation of the dogma. Work and ask for this dogma. You should petition the Holy Father for this dogma. The Lord Jesus Christ has wrought great things and will give even more to you all in these times, in this twentieth century. On this date ‘ the Lady of All Nations ‘ will receive her official title of ‘ Lady of All Nations ‘

Note well: these three concepts in one. These three. ( The Lady puts up three fingers and moves the other hand round about Her until She becomes, as it were, enveloped in a delicate mist ). Now I have demonstrated…

Why A New Marian Dogma?

The following article is intended as an introduction to those who know little or nothing about the contemporary international movement for a Fifth Marian Dogma. It is presently being printed as a pamphlet.  If you would like free copies to distribute at your local parish, prayer group, or for friends or family members, please email us at mary@motherofallpeoples.com, call us at 740-937-2277, or write to us at 313 High St., Hopedale, Ohio, USA, 43976 –Ed.

The popes of Catholic Church, based on Scripture and Tradition, have officially taught over the course of centuries that the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, is also the Spiritual Mother of all peoples.  Mary performs this role as spiritual mother to humanity in three basic ways.

First, Mary consented to be the Mother of Jesus (Lk 1:38),…

Why the Time is Ripe for the Fifth Marian Dogma

This exceptional presentation by Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, on the solution to the great crises facing the Church and the world today: the need to re-Marianize the Church by recognizing the Blessed Mother’s universal mediation through the solemn definition of her roles as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate, was given at the Mary, “Unique Cooperator in the Redemption” Symposium held at Fatima on May 3-7, 2005. – Ed.

I have chosen to entitle this final, concluding conference of our symposium, the “Cause of Mary, Advocate.” Etymologically, cause is a legal term. If its use to summarize our discussion of the mystery of Mary Immaculate and of her unique place in the divine counsels governing the economy of salvation retains a legal scent, that is quite intentional. For the cause of Mary in the economy of salvation, the place she…

Marian Coredemption and Mediation: An Introduction

In the course of two millennia and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Catholic Church has come to an ever more focused understanding of the person and role of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. The first Marian dogma stating that Mary is in fact the Theotókos, the God-bearer or Mother of God was solemnly declared by the Fathers of the Council of Ephesus in 431.¹

Subsequently at the Lateran Council of 649 convoked by Pope St. Martin I the Church reached the certitude that Mary is ever Virgin: that she was a virgin before, during and after giving birth to Jesus.² After centuries of debate the Catholic Church arrived at the assurance that Mary was immaculate from the first moment of her conception. ³ Finally in 1950, after ascertaining the Church’s long held belief, the Venerable Pius…

Interview with Cardinal Toppo on Fifth Marian Dogma and Ecumenism

Telesphore P. Cardinal Toppo, former president of India’s National Conference of Catholic Bishops, granted the following interview with Zenit News Service concerning the drive for the new solemn definition of a fifth Marian dogma that would define Mary’s spiritual maternity under its three essential aspects—Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate. Contrary to the opinions of some who believe that such a solemn definition would adversely affect ecumenical relations, Cardinal Toppo believes that such a definition would enhance the ecumenical mission of the Church. “I have no doubt that non-Catholic Christians participating in ecumenical dialogue, either will find this position acceptable or at least will have no valid or convincing argument against it.”
—Asst. Ed.
RANCHI, India, MAY 5, 2008 – Proclaiming Mary as the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity would benefit ecumenical and interreligious dialogue because it would help non-Catholics to understand many things about the Mother of God, says…

5th Dogma a Marian Antidote: Interview With Syro-Malabar Cardinal Vithayathil

KERALA, India, MAY 21, 2008 (Zenit.org)—An antidote to the challenges facing the Church and society today is the glorification of Mary through the proclamation of a fifth Marian dogma, says Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.

Cardinal Vithayathil, major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, is one of the five cardinals who sent a letter in January inviting prelates worldwide to join them in petitioning Benedict XVI to declare a fifth Marian dogma they said would “proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary.”

The text includes the petition that asks the Pope to proclaim Mary as “the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the Co-redemptrix with Jesus the Redeemer, Mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one Mediator, and Advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race.”

In…

5th Marian Dogma “Nothing New,” says Cardinal Aponte Martínez

The following is a re-print of a March 18, 2008, interview conducted by Zenit Catholic News Service with Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez regarding the new effort to get cardinals and bishops throughout the world to send petitions to Pope Benedict XVI requesting the solemn definition of the dogma of Mary’s spiritual maternity.
—Asst. Ed.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—By declaring Mary the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, Benedict XVI wouldn’t be saying anything new about her, only clarifying her role in salvation, says Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez.

The retired archbishop of San Juan is one of the five cardinal co-sponsors of the 2005 International Symposium on Marian Co-redemption, held in Fatima, that are asking Benedict…

The Blessed Virgin Mary’s Cooperation in the Redemption: An Ecumenical Perspective

In his classic work on heaven and hell, The Great Divorce, my famous Anglican confrere, C.S. Lewis, provides a vivid depiction of what hell is like. He describes it as a town where all the inhabitants are quarrelsome. Their quarrels with one another are so constant that they are continually moving from house to house and from street to street to get away from one another. This moving away from one another has been going on for so long that no one would think seriously about turning around and going back to the center from which they each came. All of the inhabitants have built houses that please them individually without ever realizing that they have needs that only living in proximity with others can fulfill (1). In Lewis’ words, “The trouble is they have no needs. You get everything you want…