I have sometimes heard of Our Lady being called ‘co-redemptrix’, co-redeemer along with Christ, but now the Vatican has said this expression is not to be used. Why not?
The Vatican document to which you refer was issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, on 4 November 2025 and titled Mater Populi Fidelis, Mother of the Faithful People of God. It was approved and ordered to be published by Pope Leo XIV on 7 October, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
It is a very thorough document, with extensive references to Scripture, the Fathers of the Church, saints, and popes throughout history to justify its decision that the titles of Our Lady “co-redemptrix” and “mediatrix” are inappropriate. In this column I will deal with the title “co-redemptrix” and in the next with “mediatrix”.
The document acknowledges that Mary cooperated closely with Our Lord in bringing about the redemption of mankind by his death on the cross of Calvary.
There she suffered intensely in union with the suffering of Christ. Nonetheless, Mary’s role in redemption is not equal to that of Christ but subordinate to it, since she too was redeemed by Christ.
The document makes this point with reference to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which “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” (n. 14).
The document acknowledges that during the pontificate of St Pius X the title “co-redemptrix” was used in two documents of the Holy Office, as the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith was then called, one of which “praises the custom of adding to the name of Jesus the name ‘of his mother, our co-redemptrix, the Blessed Mary’” (Footnote 33). It also says that some popes used the title, including Pope Pius XI and St John Paul II, who used it seven times, up until 1996 (Footnotes 33 and 36).
In 1996 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave his view on whether it was opportune to define a dogma of Mary as co-redemptrix and mediatrix.
He said no: “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” (n. 19).
As a result of its extensive study, the Dicastery now concludes: “Given the necessity of explaining Mary’s subordinate role to Christ in the work of Redemption, it is always inappropriate 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 honour 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; n. 22).
To be sure, in the English language, the prefix ‘co’ in words like co-worker and co-chairman implies an equal role between two persons, not a subordinate role of one person to the other. Therefore, the title “co-redemptrix” can imply that Mary’s role in redemption is equal to that of Christ, which it is not.
For this reason, the Vatican has said that this title of Mary is inappropriate.