Mariologist Sees ‘Providential’ Signs in Pope Leo XIV’s Marian Devotion

Dr. Mark Miravalle, a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville and Ave Maria University, has been struck by the clear and profound Marian references Leo XIV has made in these first 100 days of his pontificate.

Edward Pentin Interviews August 12, 2025

LONDON — From his actions and words so far, Pope Leo XIV has displayed a strong Marian devotion reminiscent of his namesake predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, raising hopes that perhaps Leo XIV will proclaim the long awaited and long petitioned proclamation of a fifth Marian dogma.

These are observations of Mariologist Mark Miravalle, a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, who has been struck by the clear and profound Marian references Leo XIV has made in these first 100 days of his pontificate. 

In this Aug. 7 interview with the Register on the sidelines of an international “A Day With Mary” symposium in London, Miravalle explains the significance of the various similarities with Leo XIII in this regard and the many clear references Leo XIV has already made to Our Lady. He also discusses why he thinks it is likely, with Leo as pope,  devotion to the Virgin Mary could increase, especially as humanity confronts the pressing threats of global war and artificial intelligence. 

The proposed fifth Marian dogma — proclaiming Mary as Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate for humanity — has been the subject of petitions from bishops, cardinals, priests, religious, and millions of faithful for over a century. 

Professor Miravalle, could you tell us more about the connections you’ve found between Leo XIII and Leo XIV in terms of their Marian devotion? 

In choosing Leo as his name, Leo XIV is going back a century, which kind of resounds with his model for the pontificate. I think it’s very significant in terms of respect for tradition, not a static traditionalism, but in respect for that which is to come and the battles he feels he’ll need to fight. Leo XIII battled in his time against social injustice; for Leo XIV, it will be artificial intelligence.

But I think there are also potentially other similarities between Leo XIII and Leo XIV, and I think his early Mariology has shown that. He has not hesitated to make reference to Our Lady in the first moments of his papacy, calling us to pray with her, identifying her as our mother. I think there’s a providential dimension that he was chosen on a Marian feast, which is obviously beyond his ability, and he made reference to it with the supplication of Our Lady, which is connected with Blessed Bartolo [Longo, a 20th-century Dominican tertiary renowned for his deep devotion to the Virgin Mary]. It represents a full, rich Mariology and Marian devotion. His election on May 8 was also on the previous feast of the Mediatrix of All Graces and, also for Augustinians, Our Lady of Grace. They’ve been celebrating that for centuries, and so I think there’s Providence in that dimension. 

Then there was his address to the College of Cardinals.

Yes, I was also very moved by his [May 9] address to the College of Cardinals. It takes, I think, a great spiritual depth and humility to understand that authority properly exercised could mean martyrdom, and that the sacrifice, and even his call to become small, to move aside, so Christ could properly act, I think, was profound. But he ends also with a reference to Our Lady being the instrument for him to be able to do this. 

Then, I think, very significantly was his “day off,” so to speak — what he writes, not only does he go to see Our Lady of Salus Populi Romani in Santa Maria Maggiore [revered Byzantine icon in St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome], but the fact that he’d go 30 kilometers outside of Rome to the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel [an Augustinian-run shrine in the nearby town of Genazzano]. And I think it is very endearing that he would write a personal note to his mother like a real son, asking her for her help and specify that he has always been led and drawn by her love, her wisdom and her care. And then when the people respond, you know, “Viva il Papa,” he responds, “Viva Maria!”

So this comes very much from his heart. 

Yes — sometimes the spontaneous can really reveal the heart of the Pope. And the heart of Pope Leo is Marian. 

Can you tell us also about the Marian aspects of his coat of arms? 

Half of his coat of arms is Marian, blue-filled with the fleur-de-lis in the center, which is the Marian one. That’s unmistakably Marian, with the bottom half being Augustinian, which is great, but Our Lady got the top half. 

You have also mentioned what happened on the fourth day after his election and how it related to Our Lady Queen of Peace.

Yes, on the fourth day I thought it was very significant that he said we needed a miracle of peace, and that is only going to come through the Queen of Peace [Angelus address, May 11]. That understanding, I think, is critical. I think we’re taking a very Pelagian concept of world conflict right now, as if we could bring peace on our own. Then there is the June 9 homily by Pope Leo — arguably the single clearest reference to Our Lady’s co-redemption in the last 20 years — when he says that Mary’s motherhood took an unimaginable leap to the cross where she becomes the new Eve and that Jesus has associated her in his redemptive death. Now, that’s classic co-redemption, and that’s what the title co-redemptrix means: that Mary uniquely participates with Jesus, the new Eve with the new Adam, in the redemption of humanity. But the fact that Leo brought the new Eve to Calvary is very theologically significant. 

So I think all these elements show he’s following the predecessor nomenclature of Leo XIII because Leo XIII was the first pope who approved the title “Co-Redemptrix.” He [implicitly] calls our leader the “Reparatrix” [“of the whole world”]. He makes the most holistic treatments of Our Lady of Mediatrix of all graces in Octobri Mense [“The Month of October,” Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical on the Rosary]. And very importantly, he sees Our Lady as the interceding advocate, the remedy for the problems of the Church in the 19th century, and it is our hope and prayer that our present Holy Father would also see that Our Lady is the remedy, not simply a pious image. She is the superpower to bring us the grace of peace, as is promised at Fatima, with the triumph of Immaculate Heart. 

Is the Holy Father’s role therefore crucial in recognizing the fifth Marian dogma — that Our Lady is Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate for humanity? 

Yes, until the Vicar of Christ acknowledges that Our Lady is the ultimate intercessory answer for these needs, only then can she activate that, because God has a very clear ground rule: That is, grace can’t be forced. And so we have to acknowledge the intercessory power of Our Lady for her to be able to fully exercise it. And that’s what a solemn proclamation would do. 

Do you think it’s likely Leo XIV could do that? 

I am very hopeful both because of his Marian love and because of his awareness of the needs for miracles to deal with things like world peace and crises, let alone things like AI. 

I thought it was very significant in his message to 50,000 young people at a Medjugorje youth festival in Rome that he would say: “No algorithm can ever substitute an embrace, a glance, a true encounter, neither with God, nor our friends, nor our family. Think of Mary.” I think it revealed, in the mind of the Pope, that Our Lady has that ability of bringing back what is authentically human, because the great danger of AI is that it replaces what makes us human, our intellect, and our will, so we don’t think for ourselves and we don’t decide for ourselves. 

So not only is it what I would call a “creeping idolatry,” because it’s gradually replacing artificial intelligence with the questions we would normally go to God or to people we see with wisdom, but it replaces the two things which make us human: our minds and God’s greatest gift to each one of us, which is our wills. 

Does proclaiming the fifth Marian dogma also require our cooperation?

Yes, there are two classic ways of arriving at a Marian dogma: No. 1 is prayer and No. 2 is petitions. Both Pius IX and Pius XII, who respectively defined the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, thanked the people for the millions of petitions, because it’s not a democratic power play: It’s the Pope listening to his children throughout the world on what is the spirit saying through the sensus fidelium. I see this profoundly with Pope Leo. He’s a listening Pope, and in the right sense: listening and then taking appropriate action. And so I would hope that in a respectful way, he could hear what the people of God are saying and have said. And the time is right now, because, quite frankly, I think the transition between a Third World War by piecemeal and a Third World War more actively and formally pronounced might be sooner than we think. We are only going to get the peace that was promised at Fatima through the triumph the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but we’re only going to get the triumph through this proclamation of the dogma. 

You’ve talked about a resurgence in Marian devotion; could you tell us more about that? 

After the Council, but not explicitly because of the Council, there is what many theologians called a decade without Mary, which saw a great demise, diminution and devotion to Our Lady. St. John Paul II tried to correct that but it wasn’t necessarily captured or implemented by much of the Mariological and theological community. I think in the last 10 to 15 years, we’re seeing a Marian resurgence, and I’m seeing [that] especially with the young. I teach Mariology at Ave Mary University and Franciscan University and have seen how quick the young mind is ready to accept and rejoice in the full truth of Our Lady. There are doctoral dissertations going on right now about Mary’s role in co-redemption, according to John Paul II. And even the readiness for prelates of the Church to now, once again, teach and preach about the truth of Our Lady as the human Co-Redemptrix. For example, there’s an extraordinary homily by Cardinal [William] Goh from Singapore, not only talking about Mary’s role in redemption, but giving an explanation and defense of the title “Co-Redemptrix.” 

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Edward Pentin Edward Pentin is the Register’s Senior Contributor and EWTN News Vatican Analyst. He began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN's National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015). Follow him on Twitter at @edwardpentin.