Fifth Marian Dogma

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Sep 07th
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Cardinals and Bishops

PRESS RELEASE: Cardinals Initiate Worldwide Cardinal-Bishop Petition for Dogma

administrator

A press statement has been released regarding the initiative of five cardinals and their invitation to all cardinals and bishops throughout the world to join them in a petition to Pope Benedict XVI for the dogmatic proclamation of Mary as the spiritual mother of all humanity.  The press release from the secretariat of the five cardinal co-patrons appears in its entirety below.

 

PRESS RELEASE

Cardinals Initiate Worldwide Cardinal-Bishop Petition
to Pope Benedict XVI for the Proclamation of a Marian Dogma

Five cardinals have invited every cardinal and bishop in the world to join them in petitioning Pope Benedict XVI to solemnly proclaim the Mother of Jesus as the "Spiritual Mother of humanity" as an ecumenical service of clarification to other religious traditions and to proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary.

 

An English copy of the letter which the five cardinals sent to all the world's cardinals and bishops in various languages on January 1, 2008, as well as a Latin "votum" or petition and its English translation has been released by His Eminence, Luis Cardinal Aponte Martínez, Fatima Symposium cardinal co-patron, with permission for publication (see below).

 

This initiative also intends to start an in-depth worldwide dialogue on Mary’s role in salvation for our time and builds upon the endorsement of over 500 Catholic cardinals and bishops for the petition for the definition of this potential fifth Marian dogma over the course of the past 15 years. Renowned contemporary Catholic leaders have also voiced their support, such as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Mother Angelica, foundress of the worldwide Eternal Word Television Network, along with approximately 7 million petitions from Catholics worldwide.

 

Should this effort prove successful, a proclamation would constitute a historical event for the Church as only the fifth Marian dogma defined in its 2,000-year history.

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Cardinal Calls Mary "Co-redemptrix" in Vatican on Lourdes Anniversary

Javier Cardinal Lozano Barragán

 

Our Sufferings are also Christ’s Sufferings

VATICAN CITY, Feb. 11 2008 (VIS)—In the Vatican Basilica at 4 p.m. today, Feast of Out Lady of Lourdes and 16th World Day of the Sick, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, celebrated Mass for the sick and for pilgrims of UNITALSI (Italian National Union for Transport of the Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines), and of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi.

At the beginning of his homily, the cardinal recalled that today marks the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in the grotto of Massabielle.

Commenting on certain aspects of Benedict XVI's Message for the World Day of the Sick—in which the Pope highlights the intimate bond between the Eucharistic mystery, Mary's role in the project of salvation and the reality of human suffering—Cardinal Lozano asked: "Is it possible to experience the suffering of Christ in our own suffering, to find therein happiness and joy? The answer," he went on, "can only come from the Holy Spirit, fusing our suffering with that of Christ through His infinite Love."

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

Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil, C.ss.r.

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."

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Blessed Virgin Mary: Unique Cooperator in the Redemption

Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil, C.ss.r.
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Mary Co-Redemptrix as a Help in the Pursuit of Interreligious Dialogue

Telesphore P. Cardinal Toppo

In 2004, I attended in Rome the Plenary of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue (May 2004) and also the Study Days on Vatican II's Decree Ad Gentes (October 2004). At both these events it was emphasized that the Church's commitment to Evangelization and to Dialogue go hand in hand. This eventually led me to dedicate this short reflection on "Mary Co-redemptrix as a help in Dialogue."

In inter-religious dialogue it is of the utmost importance that both sides come to know each other's faith position as accurately as possible. Now it is my contention that a Catholic's presentation and explanation of Mary's title and role as Co-Redemptrix would greatly help his/her dialogue-partner to understand correctly some basics of the Church's teaching.

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The Mother Co-redemptrix and the New Evangelization

Luis Cardinal Aponte Martínez

Pope John Paul II has prophetically summoned the Church to undertake with the greatest possible diligence and comprehensibility a new global promulgation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, a worldwide "New Evangelization" of the Word of God.

As we contemplate the imperative for the New Evangelization, particularly in light of Pope John Paul’s 2001 Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, which promulgates the ecclesial call for this New Evangelization, the question must be posed: who was the first to "hear the word of God and keep it" (cf. Lk 11:28)?  It was the Mother of the Lord, who so completely accepted the Word and kept it that she literally "gave flesh" to the Word (cf. Lk 1:38, Jn 1: 14).

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The Motherly Role of Mary in the Church and in the World

Most Rev. Dr. S. Michael Augustine

A Position Paper on the Motherly Role of Mary,
the Blessed Virgin Mother in the Church and in the World

Hanging on the Cross, Jesus sees his mother and John standing at the foot of the Cross … Looking at them, Jesus says: "Woman, behold your son … Behold your mother" (Jn 19:26-27). Thereby Jesus gave Mary his mother to the Church. It was a pure gift and grace of our Lord Jesus to make available to humanity the maternal role of Mary.

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