The Seven Uses of “Co-redemptrix”
Perhaps most significantly, John
Paul II used the term “Co-redemptrix” (corredentrice in Latin) at least
seven times in various audiences and addresses between 1979 and 1997. These weren’t
in formal magisterial documents like encyclicals, but they were public papal
statements carrying weight:
Representative Examples:
1. September 8, 1982 (Sancta Maria della Lega,
Rome):
“Mary, though conceived and
born without the stain of sin, participated in a marvelous way in the sufferings
of her divine Son, in order to be co-redemptrix of humanity.”
2. May 8, 1983 (General
Audience):
“Crucified spiritually with
her crucified Son (cf. Gal 2:20), she contemplated with heroic love the death
of her God, she ‘lovingly consented to the immolation of this Victim which she
herself had brought forth’ (Lumen Gentium, 58)… Thus she cooperated in a
totally singular way with the work of the Savior, co-redemptrix of humanity.”
3. March 31, 1985 (Sanctuary
of Our Lady of Pompeii):
“Having suffered for the
Church, Mary deserved to become the Mother of all the disciples of her Son, the
Mother of their unity… In fact Mary, who conceived Christ, brought forth,
nursed him, presented him to the Father in the temple, and suffered with him as
he died on the cross, ‘in a wholly singular way cooperated by her disobedience,
faith, hope and burning charity in the Savior’s work of restoring supernatural
life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace’ (GL
61). This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of redemption reaches
its culmination on Calvary, where Christ ‘offered himself as a perfect
sacrifice to God’ (Heb 9:14) and where Mary stood near the cross (cf. Jn
19:25), ‘suffering grievously with her only-begotten Son, uniting herself with
a maternal heart to his sacrifice, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of
this victim which she herself had brought forth’ (GK 58), and also offering him
to the Father.”
4. January 1, 1987 (Angelus
Address):
“Mary goes before us on the
path of holiness in her unique and perfect way, because at the Immaculate
Conception, as the Mother of God, and as co-redemptrix of mankind, she stands
in a singular relationship to Jesus Christ and shares in his redemptive mission.”
5. April 9, 1997 (General
Audience – The Last Use):
“The collaboration of
Christians in salvation takes place after the Calvary event, whose fruits they
endeavor to spread by prayer and sacrifice. Mary’s co-operation, instead, took
place during the event itself and in the capacity of mother; thus her
co-operation embraces the whole of Christ’s saving work. She alone was
associated in this way with the redemptive sacrifice that merited the salvation
of all mankind. In union with Christ and in submission to him, she collaborated
in obtaining the grace of salvation for all humanity.” (Edward P. Martin, Mary
Under Siege: How a Recent Vatican Document is Dividing Catholics Over the
Mother of God [2025], 153-53)
Commenting on the above, Martin notes that:
This was maximalist theology—not the extreme maximalism that would make Mary equal to Christ, but the moderate maximalism that attributed genuine salvific causality to her cooperation. (Edward P. Martin, Mary Under Siege: How a Recent Vatican Document is Dividing Catholics Over the Mother of God [2025], 154; note that this book is a discussion of Mater Populi Fidelis, November 11, 2025, and the subsequent theological debates after it was issued)
