More than one Mariologist – people who know and study all the Church's doctrine on the Virgin Mary- has already expressed her joy, for the devotion to the Mother of God that she has shown Leo XIV in the brief time of his pontificate.
References to this are common in Wednesday catechetical discourses, in homilies at Eucharistic celebrations, and in the Angelus, such as those included here: "Brothers and sisters, let us ask together..." Maria, Queen of Martyrs, help us to be, in every circumstance, faithful and courageous witnesses of your Son, and to support our brothers and sisters who suffer for the faith today.» (Angelus, August 17, 2025). And he frequently encourages the faithful to ask for Mary’s intercession for peace, serenity in difficult situations, etc.
The reference to Maria What has attracted the most attention so far are the words he spoke on June 9th in the homily for the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church: «John, the only one of the twelve present at Calvary, saw and testified that, at the foot of the cross, along with other women, was the mother of Jesus (Jn 19, 25). And he heard with his own ears the last words of the Master, among which, these: "Woman, here is your son," and then, addressing him: "Here is your mother.".
«"Mary's motherhood through the mystery of the cross took an unthinkable leap. The Mother of Jesus became the new Eve, because the Son associated her with his redemptive death, the source of new and eternal life for every human being who comes into this world.".
Words that have moved Mark Miravalle, a professor of Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA, to write this commentary after considering other details of Pope Leo XIV's relationship with the Virgin Mary.
«Then there is the homily of June 9, perhaps the clearest reference to Our Lady’s co-redemption in the last twenty years: when he says that Mary’s motherhood took an unimaginable leap to the cross, where she becomes the new Eve and that Jesus associated her with his redemptive death. That is classic co-redemption; and that is what the title Co-Redemptrix means: that Mary participates in a unique way with Jesus, the new Eve with the new Adam, in the redemption of humanity. The fact that the Pope is taking the new Eve to Calvary has great theological weight.»National Catholic Register, August 7).
Leo XIII officially confirmed the title of Co-redemptrix To the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. We do not know if Leo XIV will reaffirm this, after it has been sidelined in certain theological circles in recent years without any serious reason. And if Christ associated her with his redemptive death, who are we to question the actions of Jesus?
While writing these pages, an article published in Religion in Freedom on August 13th fell into my hands, conveying the reasons of a convert that moved him to enter the Church Catholic, and to cease being an evangelical Protestant. His ninth personal reason refers directly to what he calls: The rich biblical typology of the Church. Biblical typology that he employed Papa by calling Mary the "new Eve".
«"This method of reading the Scriptures, which The way the New Testament is foreshadowed in the Old Testament has helped me understand the Bible in very profound ways. It is the method that Jesus, in Luke 24:27, and the Apostle Paul, in Romans 5:12-14, and other apostles used to explain the Scriptures, and it is the method that the Catholic Church uses in its teaching.
This helped me see the scriptural basis of the Church's teaching on Mary, which was my biggest obstacle to entering the Church. Once I understood that she was the New Eve, the New Ark of the Covenant, the new Queen Mother, it became clear that the Church had good reasons to venerate the Blessed Virgin.
Assumed into Heaven, the Mother of God continues to care for the Church of her Son, stirring the hearts and minds of the Pope and all Catholics, so that we may welcome with open arms and hearts all those who discover that She is the ever-open door to enter the one Church founded by Her Son.
«Sweetest Heart of Mary, give strength and security to our journey on earth: be yourself our way, for you know the path and the sure shortcut that lead, through your love, to the love of Jesus Christ» (Saint Josemaría Escrivá).
Ernesto Juliá, (ernesto.julia@gmail.com) | Previously published in Religion Confidential.
Leo XIV's teaching on the Virgin Mary continued to develop in his catecheses of 2026. In the general audience of May 13, dedicated to the Virgin Mary as a model for the Church, the Pope recalled that Mary is an example of faith and charity for the entire Christian community.
«Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
The Second Vatican Council wanted to dedicate the last chapter of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church to the Virgin Mary (cf. Lumen gentium, 52-69). She is «proclaimed as a most excellent and entirely singular member of the Church and as the perfect type and exemplar of the Church in faith and charity» (n. 53). These words invite us to understand how in Mary, who under the action of the Holy Spirit welcomed and gave birth to the Son of God made flesh, we can recognize both the model, the excellent member, and the mother of the entire ecclesial community.
By allowing herself to be molded by the work of Grace, which came to be fulfilled in her, and by accepting the gift of the Most High with her faith and virginal love, Mary is the perfect model of what the whole Church is called to be: creature of the Word of the Lord and mother of the children of God, generated in docility to the action of the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, as the quintessential believer, offering us the perfect example of unconditional openness to the divine mystery within the communion of God's holy people, Mary is an excellent member of the ecclesial community. Finally, as she gives birth to children in the Son, beloved in the eternal Beloved who came among us, Mary is the mother of the entire Church, to whom the Church can turn with filial trust, certain of being heard, protected, and loved.
The sum of these characteristics of the Virgin Mary could be expressed by speaking of her as the iconic woman of the Mystery. The term "woman" highlights the historical concreteness of this young daughter of Israel, to whom the extraordinary experience of becoming the mother of the Messiah.
The term "icon" emphasizes that in her the twofold movement of descent and ascent is fulfilled: in her shine forth both God's gratuitous choice and the free consent of faith in him. Mary is therefore the iconic woman of the Mystery, that is, of the divine plan of salvation, hidden in an age and fully revealed in her Jesus Christ.
Predestined from eternity
The Council has left us a clear teaching on the place reserved for the Virgin Mary in the work of Redemption (cf. Lumen Gentium, 60-62). It has reminded us that the only Mediator of salvation is Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Tim 2:5-6) and that his Blessed Mother «in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather serves to demonstrate its power» (LG, 60).
At the same time, «the Blessed Virgin, predestined from all eternity as the Mother of God together with the Incarnation of the Word, […] cooperated in an entirely unique way in the work of the Savior with obedience, faith, hope and ardent charity in order to restore the supernatural life of souls. For this reason she is our mother in the order of grace» (ibid., 61).
The mystery of the Church is also reflected in the Virgin Mary: in her, the people of God find their origin, their model, and their homeland. In the Mother of the Lord, the Church contemplates its own mystery, not only because it finds again the model of virginal faith, maternal charity, and the spousal covenant to which it is called, but also and above all because it recognizes in her its own archetype, the ideal figure of what it is called to be.
As can be seen, the reflections on the Virgin Mary collected in the Lumen gentium, They teach us to love the Church and to serve in it in the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God that is to come and that will be fully realized in glory.
Let us then allow ourselves to be challenged by such a sublime model as Mary, Virgin and Mother, and let us ask her to help us through her intercession to respond to all that is asked of us through her example: Do I live my belonging to the Church with humble and active faith? Do I recognize the covenant community that God has given me to respond to his infinite love? Do I look to Mary as a model, an excellent member and mother of the Church, and do I ask her to help me be a faithful disciple of her Son?
Brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit, who descended upon Mary and whom we invoke with humility and trust, grant us to live these wonderful realities fully. And, having delved into the Constitution Lumen gentium, Let us ask the Virgin to grant us this gift: that love for Holy Mother Church may grow in all of us. Amen!»
Source: General Audience of Leo XIV, May 13, 2026: "The Virgin Mary, model of the Church"«.
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