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The Catholic Church worships the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Heaven, who distributes gifts and graces from heaven according to her sovereign will.
Sep 18
Below is an excerpt from the book, “Are Catholics Christians?”
The Catholic church teaches that salvation comes through both Mary and Jesus. According to Catholic doctrine, by her obedience, Mary is the cause of salvation. In the Dogmatic Constitution of the Catholic Church, Lumen Gentium, Pope Paul VI, states that the Virgin Mary served “the mystery of redemption,” not passively, but rather by “freely cooperating in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience,” she “became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” 1 That is how Catholic theologians and popes gave her the title of Co-Redemptrix. They gave her that title because it fits the stated Catholic dogma. In Lumen Gentium, Pope Paul VI states:
Embracing God’s salvific will with a full heart and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her Son, under Him and with Him, by the grace of almighty God, serving the mystery of redemption. Rightly therefore the holy Fathers see her as used by God not merely in a passive way, but as freely cooperating in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience. For, as St. Irenaeus says, she “being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert in their preaching, “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience; what the virgin Eve bound through her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her faith.” Comparing Mary with Eve, they call her “the Mother of the living,” and still more often they say: “death through Eve, life through Mary.” 2
In Lumen Gentium, Pope Paul VI draws a clear parallel between the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ in God’s redemption of his elect. In Lumen Gentium, Pope Paul VI concludes that Mary “became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” 3 Under Catholic theology her role is not theoretical; it is real. Indeed, Catholic dogma is that Mary is “the Mother of the living,” who obtain “life through Mary.” The life referenced in Lumen Gentium is eternal life. Mary is “the cause of salvation” from sin unto eternal life.
The redemptive role of Mary is ingrained in Catholic dogma. In the Bible, Jesus is called the “last Adam” because he was a quickening spirit for men who were the offspring of the first Adam. “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” 1 Corinthians 14:45. While Adam brought death to the world through sin, Jesus Christ brings life through his redemptive sacrifice. The Catechism of the Catholic Church borrowed from that theme and gave Mary the title of “new Eve.” 4
That title of “new Eve” is equivalent to the “last Adam” title given to Jesus. Indeed, in Lumen Gentium, Pope Paul VI, explicitly says: “death through Eve, life through Mary.” This expands on the parallel to what Christ accomplished on the cross. The Bible states:
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17.
Thus, the Catholic Church avers that as the first Adam brought death and the “final Adam” (Jesus) brought life, so also the first Eve brought death, the “new Eve” (Mary) brought life. This is unmistakable equivalence, and it is perfectly explained by saying that Mary is the Catholic Co-Redemptrix.
Roman Catholicism is a henotheistic religion. Under henotheism, there is one principal god and many lesser gods. The Virgin Mary, under Catholic dogma, is the principal goddess. Now, Catholics might say that Jesus Christ is the principal God, not Mary. But, upon closer examination, it seems that the Catholic Mary has supplanted the place of Jesus in many important respects. For example, the Catholic Church considers Mary to be seated at the right hand of God in heaven. Pope Pius XII in his Encyclical Letter Ad Caeli Reginam, explained: “The Blessed Virgin, sitting at the right hand of God.” 5There is a problem with that statement because it is Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of God, not Mary.
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. (Mark 16:19)
Indeed, Jesus Christ continues to sit at that right hand of God.
Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. (Luke 22:69)
The Catholic Church tries to get around that problem by claiming that Mary is united with Jesus Christ at the right hand of God and from there she makes intercession for us. Pope Pius XII in Ad Caeli Reginam states:
For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer’s Kingdom; from her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father. 6
There is room only for one to sit at the right hand of God. If Mary is seated at the right hand of God, Jesus cannot also be there and vice versa. There is no amount of uniting that can place both Mary and Jesus at the right hand of God. Furthermore, the Bible states that only Jesus makes intercession for the elect.
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:34)
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)
Indeed, the petitions and prayers to Mary make clear that she is considered by the Catholic Church to be a goddess, the Queen of Heaven. There is a doctrinal treatise, The Glories of Mary, that includes a series of prayers to the Virgin Mary written by Aphonsus Liguori (1732-1787), who is the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Redeemer. Liguori’s book was approved on January 21, 1862, by John, Archbishop of New York. 7 Liguori’s writings are considered authoritative. Liguori was canonized as a Catholic Saint in 1839. He was further declared a Doctor of the Church in 1871. That is a rare honor bestowed on only 38 so-called saints of the Catholic Church. “He was recognized as a patron of confessors and moral theologians in 1950. He is the only moral theologian whose opinion the Roman Catholic Church has said we can follow on moral issues.” 8 Liguori writes:
If Jesus is the king of the whole world, Mary is also queen of the whole world. If therefore, says St. Bernardine of Sienna, all creatures who serve God ought also to serve Mary; for all angels and men, and all things that are in heaven and on earth being subject to the dominion of God, are also subject to the dominion of the glorious Virgin. 9
Notice that Liguori considers Mary to be equal to Jesus Christ as queen of the whole world. Furthermore, he writes that “all things that are in heaven and on earth being subject to the dominion of God, are also subject to the dominion of the glorious Virgin.” 10 That makes Mary a goddess. Indeed, part of a model prayer proposed by Liguori states:
I would esteem it a greater thing to be thy servant than Lord of the whole earth. Thine I am, save me! Accept me, oh Mary, for thy own and attend to my salvation, as I am thine own. I no longer will be my own, I give myself to thee. 11
Notice that the prayer is a petition to Mary for “salvation!” Indeed, Liguori writes that “all ye who desire the kingdom of God; honor the Virgin Mary, and ye shall have life and eternal salvation.” 12 Liguori explains that Mary is the only hope of sinners. He explains, “that all those who are saved must be saved by means of Mary.” 13 Liguori quotes Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555), canonized a Catholic saint by Pope Alexander VII, who called Mary “our only refuge, help, and protection!” 14 Liguori reveals that the reason that Mary is the only hope and refuge for Catholics is because, as Queen of Heaven, she is in charge of dispensing salvation.
St. Bernard assigns the reason for this by saying: Behold, oh man, the design of God, a design arranged for our benefit, that he may be able to bestow upon us more abundantly his compassion; for, wishing to redeem the human race, he has placed the price of our redemption in the hands of Mary, that she may dispense it at her pleasure. 15
This is confirmed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that Mary occupies “the saving office.” She acts as an “Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.” 16 Mary’s “manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation” 17 to faithful Catholics. There is no way around it. Mary is a goddess who brings salvation to Catholics. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . … Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix. 18
What does the Bible say? It says that salvation does not come from Mary; salvation comes by no other name than Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
[B]y the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth … Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:10-12.
And what is the prayer advised by Liguori? Read it and weep for all the poor souls who followed his guidance. In that prayer, you find that Liguori teaches that Jesus did not want to be the only mediator between man and God. Liguori states that Jesus employed Mary in his stead to intercede and petition God for our salvation.
Oh mother of holy love, oh our life, our refuge, and our hope, thou knowest that thy Son Jesus Christ, not content with making himself our perpetual intercessor with the eternal Father, would have thee also engaged in obtaining for us, by thy prayers, the divine mercy. He has ordained that thy prayers should aid in our salvation, and has given such power to them that they obtain whatever they ask. 19
Liguori and the Catholic Church have the Virgin Mary standing in for Jesus. She is the Catholic Queen of Heaven, who is a goddess facilitating salvation for the Catholic faithful. It bears repeating that Jesus did not abdicate his throne as Liguori claimed. He is seated at the right hand of God as the ONE mediator between man and God.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)
How does Liguori address this Biblical problem? He acknowledges that Jesus is the only mediator between man and God. But he (and the Catholic magisterium) then contradicts that truth with a lie that Mary is also a mediatrix. It is strange. He seems to make a distinction that while Jesus is the mediator of justice, Mary is the medatirix of grace. This strange bifurcation of mediation is nowhere explained by Liguori or the Catholic magisterium. It seems to be theological double-talk to get around a thorny problem. Liguori states:
We acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the only mediator of justice, as we have stated above, who by his merits obtains for us grace and salvation; but we affirm that Mary is the mediatrix of grace, and although whatever she obtains, she obtains through the merits of Jesus Christ, and because she prays and asks for it in the name of Jesus Christ, yet whatever favors we ask are all obtained through her intercession. 20
We see a similar illogical equivocation in Lumen Gentium 21, (but without the bifurcation) where Pope Paul VI says that Mary’s office as “Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix … is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator.” 22 But simply saying something is so does not make it so. Indeed, making Mary “Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix” absolutely takes away “the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one mediator” because it adds Mary as a mediatrix. If Mary is added as a mediatrix, that necessarily means that Jesus cannot be the “ONE mediator” as God said in 1 Timothy 2:5. One means one, not two.
Notably, the Catechism of the Catholic Church at § 969, quotes Pope Paul VI’s 1964 Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen Gentium, 23 but did not include the equivation by Pope Paul VI. That suggests that the equivocation is not sincere or even real. Indeed, how could it be real? It makes no sense. Clearly, the Catholic Church intends to supplant Jesus as mediator and replace him with their goddess, the Catholic Mary.
Liguori then explains that Mary is the “Mediatrix of our salvation” to the full extent that she is considered “the gate of heaven,” whereby “the intercession of Mary is even necessary for our salvation.” Thus, a Catholic believer cannot obtain salvation except through Mary.
St. Ildephonsus says, that all the honor which is paid to the mother and the queen, is rendered to the Son and king. And there is no doubt that on account of the merits of Jesus, the great privilege has been granted to Mary to be the mediatrix of our salvation; not, indeed, mediatrix of justice, but of grace and intercession, as she is called by St. Bonaventure. St. Lawrence Justinian also says: Can she be otherwise than full of grace, who has been made the ladder of paradise, the gate of heaven, the most true mediatrix between God and man? … It cannot be doubted, therefore, except by those wbo are deficient in faith, that it is a useful and holy thing to have recourse to the intercession of Mary. But the point that we here propose to prove is, that the intercession of Mary is even necessary for our salvation. 24
Liguori explains the doctrine of Mary as Queen of Heaven, who is the source of grace through which the Catholic faithful obtain eternal life.
In Mary we shall find every hope: In me is all hope of life and virtue. That in Mary we shall find every grace: In me is all grace of the way and of the truth. If In a word, that we shall find in Mary life and eternal salvation: He that shall find me shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord. And again: They that work by me shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. All which passages signify the need we have of the intercession of Mary. 25 (quotation marks omitted)
Liguori states, without equivocation, that under Catholic theology, Mary is not just helpful in obtaining salvation; Mary is necessary for salvation. Thus, “the salvation of all men to be made dependent upon her good pleasure.” 26
Hence Father Suarez concludes it to be the universal sentiment of the Church at the present day, that the intercession of Mary is not only useful, but necessary. Necessary, as we said before, not in the sense of absolute necessity, because only the mediation of Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary for us, but in the sense of moral necessity; for the Church holds the opinion, with St. Bernard, that God has chosen to bestow no grace upon us but by the hands of Mary. St. Ildephonsus affirmed this before St. Bernard, when, addressing the Virgin, he says: Oh Mary, God has decreed to commit to thee all the favors that he would confer upon men; hence he has confided to thee all the treasures and riches of grace. And therefore St. Peter Damian says, that God would not become man without the consent of Mary, that, in the first place, we might remain greatly indebted to her; and secondly, that we might understand the salvation of all men to be made dependent upon her good pleasure. 27
Catholics claim that they do not worship Mary as a goddess. But that denial rings hollow in light of her status and what the Catholic Church says about her. For example, Mary is described as not only a model of holiness, she is considered the source of holiness. The Cathechism of the Catholic Church states: “From the Church he learns the example of holiness and recognizes its model and source in the all-holy Virgin Mary.” 28 The Bible says that only God is holy. In Matthew, Jesus explained that “there is none good but one, that is, God” Matthew 19:17. And there is none who can match the holiness of God. “There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2) We read in Isaiah, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:3. But according to Catholic theology Mary is the “all-holy” “model” and “source of holiness.” 29 Thus, for Mary to be the example, model, and source of holiness requires that she be God, hence, Catholic theology requires her to be a goddess.
The Catholic dogma is that the Virgin Mary was born without sin (immaculately conceived), was a perpetual virgin, and did not die but was assumed into heaven body and soul to reign as the Queen of Heaven where she delivers our souls from death and into salvation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
[T]he Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians. In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. 30
Notice that Catholic dogma is that it is Mary who “will deliver our souls from death.” When saying the Rosary, the Catholic faithful are told that the Fifth Glorious Mystery is “The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth.” 31 Catholics are taught to “say the Our Father” and then “[s]ay ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery.” 32
On October 11, 1954, Pope Pius XII issued an Encyclical Letter Ad Caeli Reginam (to the Queen of Heaven) wherein he recognized the long-established Catholic dogma of the queenship of Mary. In Ad Caeli Reginam, the pope explained the Queen of Heaven’s role in the work of Redemption. He wrote, “the Blessed Virgin Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of our eternal salvation.” 33
Thus, her role as Queen of Heaven is linked to her role as Co-Redemptrix. Pope Pius XII called on Catholic worldwide to celebrate Mary’s queenship annually on May 31st. 34 That date was later changed to August 22nd by Pope Paul VI. 35 This was done so that the feast day would come eight days after the feast day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on May 15th. It’s actually seven days, but the Catholic Church has a strange way of counting days: it counts the feast day of the Assumption itself, May 15th, as day one. “In large part, this was done to create an octave of anticipation and to show that the Assumption necessarily results in the Mother of God being also the Queen Mother of Heaven and Earth.” 36 The Catholic Mary reigns in heaven as a regal queen. The Vatican celebrates her queenship “eight days after the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven in her body and her soul, the glorious epilogue of the Mother of God, seated beside the King in brilliance like a Queen.” 37
There is no question that the Catholic Mary is a Catholic goddess. Ad Caeli Reginam states that “we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother’s solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen.” 38 Catholics venerate the reigning sovereign Virgin Mary as the Queen of Heaven. Ad Caeli Reginam states:
We addressed to the people of Portugal, when the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary which is venerated at Fatima was being crowned with a golden diadem. 39
The Virgin Mary is not simply a ceremonial queen; she is the ruling Queen of Heaven. “And this royal dignity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is quite clearly indicated through direct assertion by those who call her ‘Lady,’ ‘Ruler’ and ‘Queen.’” 40 The Catholic Church has feasts that celebrate her queenship over heaven and earth. “We have decided to institute the liturgical feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen.” 41 Indeed, the Catholic dogma is that Catholics are to call on “[t]he Blessed Virgin, sitting at the right hand of God to pray for us.” 42 Ad Caeli Reginam reveals that the Catholic version of the Virgin Mary is the Queen of Heaven, who is a sovereign ruler over the entire world:
The theologians of the Church, deriving their teaching from these and almost innumerable other testimonies handed down long ago, have called the most Blessed Virgin the Queen of all creatures, the Queen of the world, and the Ruler of all. 43
The Catholic Church considers the Virgin Mary to be “the Queen of all Christians.” 44 And as such, the Catholic Church admonishes that she is to be worshipped as the Queen of Heaven. Ad Caeli Reginam states:
The Supreme Shepherds of the Church have considered it their duty to promote by eulogy and exhortation the devotion of the Christian people to the heavenly Mother and Queen. 45
God warns: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” I John 5:21. But the Catholic Church allows for blatant idolatry by worshiping images of Mary.
Finally, art which is based upon Christian principles and is animated by their spirit as something faithfully interpreting the sincere and freely expressed devotion of the faithful, has since the Council of Ephesus portrayed Mary as Queen and Empress seated upon a royal throne adorned with royal insignia, crowned with the royal diadem and surrounded by the host of angels and saints in heaven, and ruling not only over nature and its powers but also over the machinations of Satan. Iconography, in representing the royal dignity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, has ever been enriched with works of highest artistic value and greatest beauty; it has even taken the form of representing colorfully the divine Redeemer crowning His mother with a resplendent diadem. 46
The Catholic Church bases its Queen of Heaven dogma on the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus Christ, the King of kings, as a sign that she must necessarily be honored as the Queen of Heaven. Ad Caeli Reginam states:
Because the virgin Mary was raised to such a lofty dignity as to be the mother of the King of kings, it is deservedly and by every right that the Church has honored her with the title of ‘Queen’. 47
While in Mater Populi Fidelis, 48 Pope Leo XIV advised that the terms Mediatrix of All Graces and Co-Redemptrix should no longer be used to describe the Virgin Mary, the dogma of the Catholic Church about Mary clearly establishes that those titles are succinct descriptions of her Catholic theological status. Catholic dogma is that Mary assisted in and played an active role in redemption from sin. For example, Ad Caeli Reginam states:
For just as Christ, because He redeemed us, is our Lord and king by a special title, so the Blessed Virgin also (is our queen), on account of the unique manner in which she assisted in our redemption, by giving of her own substance, by freely offering Him for us, by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest in, our salvation. 49
The only proper description of her role, as described in Ad Caeli Reginam, would be Co-Redemptrix. Indeed, Ad Caeli Reginam describes Mary as a “glorious Lady” who “had been chosen Mother of Christ in order that she might become a partner in the redemption of the human race.” 50
Mary is considered by the Catholic Church to be an active partner and associate with Jesus Christ in redemption. They thus say that she can intercede and obtain salvation through prayer from the Catholic faithful.
Certainly, in the full and strict meaning of the term, only Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is King; but Mary, too, as Mother of the divine Christ, as His associate in the redemption, in his struggle with His enemies and His final victory over them, has a share, though in a limited and analogous way, in His royal dignity. For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer’s Kingdom; from her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father. 51
Catholic doctrine is that praying to Mary for salvation is efficacious. Her intercession on behalf of a Catholic praying to her is allegedly fruitful because, according to Catholic dogma, her intercession cannot be refused. Ad Caeli Reginam states:
[I]f He uses His Sacraments and Saints as instruments for the salvation of men, why should He not make use of the role and work of His most holy Mother in imparting to us the fruits of redemption? With a heart that is truly a mother’s, to quote again Our Predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, does she approach the problem of our salvation, and is solicitous for the whole human race; made Queen of heaven and earth by the Lord, exalted above all choirs of angels and saints, and standing at the right hand of her only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she intercedes powerfully for us with a mother’s prayers, obtains what she seeks, and cannot be refused. 52 (quotation marks and footnotes omitted)
Praying to Mary is communicating with the dead, which is the sin of necromancy, condemned by God. Indeed, God calls necromancy an abomination.
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)
The typical response from the Catholic Church to the allegation that Mary is a goddess to whom Catholics pray is that the prayers to Mary are for her intercession with Jesus and not because she is a goddess who has the power to grant the prayers. Catholics fail to understand that qualification does not get them out from under the sin of necromancy. Nonetheless, Jesuit Priest Luke Lapean explains, though, that Catholics are not praying to Mary as a goddess who can answer prayers:
Mary is not being prayed to in the sense that the person praying expects her to change things through her own abilities. Instead, what we as Catholics believe is that Mary intercedes for us with her Son, Jesus. 53
Furthermore, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that Mary “prays for us as she prayed for herself.” 54 But it seems that the Catholic Church is running a subtle and sophisticated legerdemain. The claim that the prayers are intercessory, in the sense that Mary must then go to Jesus, is belied by the deeper theology of Mariolatry, in which she is treated as a goddess with the power to answer the prayers herself.
That doctrinal fact is clearly established by Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), who was an influential Catholic monk. Bernard was an advisor to popes and kings. He was canonized as a Catholic Saint in 1174 by Pope Alexander III. He was declared a Doctor of the Church, which is the highest title the Catholic Church can bestow on a canonized saint. The Teachings of a Doctor of the Church are considered universal and authoritative for the entire Catholic Church. Bernard of Clairvaux’s writings are considered trustworthy regarding Catholic doctrine. Bernard was cited repeatedly by Alphonsus Ligouri. Bernard said the following:
This is the will of God who willed that we should have all things through Mary. If then, we possess any hope or grace or gift of salvation, let us acknowledge that it comes to us through her.
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