Mater Populi Fidelis

Go here to read the doctrinal note on some of the titles of Mary.  The meat of the note:

13. The cooperation of the Mother with her Son in the work of Salvation has been taught by the Magisterium of the Church.[22] As the Second Vatican Council states, “rightly, therefore, the holy Fathers see Mary not merely as a passive instrument in the hands of God, but as freely cooperating in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience.”[23] This cooperation is present not only in Jesus’ earthly life (at his conception, birth, death, and Resurrection) but also throughout the life of the Church.

14. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception highlights the primacy and unicity of Christ in the work of Redemption, for it teaches that Mary — the first to be redeemed — was herself redeemed by Christ and transformed by the Spirit, prior to any possible action of her own.[24] From this special condition of being the first redeemed by Christ and the first transformed by the Holy Spirit, Mary is able to cooperate more intensely and profoundly with Christ and the Spirit, becoming the prototype,[25] model and exemplar of what God wants to accomplish in every person who is redeemed.[26]

15. Mary’s cooperation in the work of salvation has a Trinitarian structure, since it is the fruit of the Father’s initiative, who “looked upon the lowliness of his servant” (Lk 1:48); it springs from the kenōsis of the Son, who humbled himself by taking the form of a servant (cf. Phil 2:7-8); and it is the effect of the grace of the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 1:28, 30), who prepared the heart of the young woman of Nazareth to respond at the Annunciation and throughout her life of communion with her Son. Saint Paul VI taught that “in the Virgin Mary, everything is in reference to Christ and dependent upon him. It was with a view to Christ that God the Father, from all eternity, chose her to be the all-holy Mother and adorned her with gifts of the Spirit granted to no one else.”[27] Mary’s “Yes” is not a mere precondition for something that could have been accomplished without her consent and cooperation. Her motherhood is not only biological, nor is it passive in nature,[28] but it is a “fully active” motherhood[29] that is joined to the salvific mystery of Christ as an instrument willed by the Father in his plan of salvation. She is “the guarantee that he is truly man, ‘born of a woman’ (Gal 4:4)” and, after the Nicene dogma is proclaimed, she is also recognized as being the “Theotokos, the God-bearer.”[30]

Titles Referring to Mary’s Cooperation in Salvation

16. Among the titles used to invoke Mary (“Mother of Mercy,” “Hope of the Poor,” “Help of Christians,” “Our Lady of Perpetual Succour,” “Our Advocate,” etc.), there are some that place greater emphasis on her cooperation in the redemptive work of Christ, such as “Co-redemptrix” and “Mediatrix.” 

Co-redemptrix

17. The title “Co-redemptrix” first appeared in the fifteenth century as a correction to the invocation “Redemptrix” (as an abbreviated form of the title, “Mother of the Redeemer”), which had been attributed to Mary since the tenth century. Saint Bernard assigned Mary a role at the foot of the Cross that gave rise to the title “Co-redemptrix,” which first appears in an anonymous fifteenth-century hymn from Salzburg.[31] Although the designation “Redemptrix” persisted throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it disappeared entirely in the eighteenth century, having been replaced by the title “Co-redemptrix.” Theological research on Mary’s cooperation in Christ’s Redemption in the first half of the twentieth century led to a deeper understanding of what the title “Co-redemptrix” signifies.[32]

18. Some Popes have used the title “Co-redemptrix” without elaborating much on its meaning.[33] Generally, they have presented the title in two specific ways: in reference to Mary’s divine motherhood (insofar as she, as Mother, made possible the Redemption that Christ accomplished[34]) or in reference to her union with Christ at the redemptive Cross.[35] The Second Vatican Council refrained from using the title for dogmatic, pastoral, and ecumenical reasons. Saint John Paul II referred to Mary as “Co-redemptrix” on at least seven occasions, particularly relating this title to the salvific value of our sufferings when they are offered together with the sufferings of Christ, to whom Mary is united especially at the Cross.[36]

19. In the Feria IV meeting on 21 February 1996, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was the Prefect of the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was asked whether the request from the movement Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici to define a dogma declaring Mary as the “Co-redemptrix” or “Mediatrix of All Graces” was acceptable. In his personal votum, he replied: “Negative. The precise meaning of these titles is not clear, and the doctrine contained in them is not mature. A defined doctrine of divine faith belongs to the Depositum Fidei — that is, to the divine revelation conveyed in Scripture and the apostolic tradition. However, it is not clear how the doctrine expressed in these titles is present in Scripture and the apostolic tradition.”[37] Later, in 2002, he publicly voiced his opinion against the use of the title: “the formula ‘Co-redemptrix’ departs to too great an extent from the language of Scripture and of the Fathers and therefore gives rise to misunderstandings… Everything comes from Him [Christ], as the Letter to the Ephesians and the Letter to the Colossians, in particular, tell us; Mary, too, is everything that she is through Him. The word ‘Co-redemptrix’ would obscure this origin.” While Cardinal Ratzinger did not deny that there may have been good intentions and valuable aspects in the proposal to use this title, he maintained that they were “being expressed in the wrong way.”[38]

20. The then Cardinal Ratzinger referred to the Letters to the Ephesians and to the Colossians, where the vocabulary and the theological dynamism of the hymns present the unique redemptive centrality of the incarnate Son in such a way as to leave no room to add any other form of mediation — for, “every spiritual blessing” is bestowed upon us “in Christ” (Eph 1:3); we are adopted as sons and daughters through him (cf. Eph 1:5); in himwe have been graced (cf. Eph 1:6); “we have redemption through his blood” (Eph 1:7); and his grace has been “lavished on us” (Eph 1:8). “In him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined” (Eph 1:11). In him “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col 1:19) and for him and through him, God willed “to reconcile all things” (Col 1:20). Such praise for the unique place of Christ calls us to situate every creature in a clearly receptive position in relation to him and to exercise careful, reverent caution whenever proposing any form of possible cooperation with him in the realm of Redemption.

21. On at least three occasions, Pope Francis expressed his clear opposition to using the title “Co-redemptrix,” arguing that Mary “never wished to appropriate anything of her Son for herself. She never presented herself as a co-Savior. No, a disciple.”[39]Christ’s redemptive work was perfect and needs no addition; therefore, “Our Lady did not want to take away any title from Jesus… She did not ask for herself to be a quasi-redeemer or a co-redeemer: no. There is only one Redeemer, and this title cannot be duplicated.”[40] Christ “is the only Redeemer; there are no co-redeemers with Christ.”[41] For “the sacrifice of the Cross, offered in a spirit of love and obedience, presents the most abundant and infinite satisfaction.”[42] While we are able to extend its effects in the world (cf. Col 1:24), neither the Church nor Mary can replace or perfect the redemptive work of the incarnate Son of God, which was perfect and needs no additions.

22. Given the necessity of explaining Mary’s subordinate role to Christ in the work of Redemption, it would not be appropriate to use the title “Co-redemptrix” to define Mary’s cooperation. This title risks obscuring Christ’s unique salvific mediation and can therefore create confusion and an imbalance in the harmony of the truths of the Christian faith, for “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). When an expression requires many, repeated explanations to prevent it from straying from a correct meaning, it does not serve the faith of the People of God and becomes unhelpful. In this case, the expression “Co-redemptrix” does not help extol Mary as the first and foremost collaborator in the work of Redemption and grace, for it carries the risk of eclipsing the exclusive role of Jesus Christ — the Son of God made man for our salvation, who was the only one capable of offering the Father a sacrifice of infinite value — which would not be a true honor to his Mother. Indeed, as the “handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38), Mary directs us to Christ and asks us to “do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). 

More on the note in the next few days after I have had time to read it and ponder it.  I would state that in this area the authority of the Pope is strongest.  This is not the Pope venturing an opinion on secular matters of which he is clearly bone ignorant.  These type of purely religious questions is why we have a Pope.  I will correct any errors of history that I find, but my attitude will be different from what it tends to be when a pope ventures beyond the proper role of his office.  My role will be to understand and simplify the questions presented, rather than to criticize.