The Co-Redemptrix Quandary

First off, we have to examine the linguistics involved here. Once again, we have an intertwining of Latin and English in such a way that the real meaning is all but lost at times. In modern English, if you use the prefix “co-“ in association with another word, it often means “with: together: joint: jointly", with the connotation of equality. Co-Chairman is an example of this, two chairmen (my spell checker insists on "chairpersons") serving equally. However, according to Professor Mark Miravalle , this is not the correct way to use the prefix in the case of Mary. “Co-“ is an abbreviation of the Latin “cum" which means “with". The title, according to Miravalle, refers to Mary’s cooperation with the Redeemer in the work of human salvation. In short, the idea of Co-Redemptrix refers to Mary’s cooperation, not to her personal ability to redeem us.

It is also true that John Paul II and Mother Teresa used the term Co-Redemptrix in public. There are two things to consider when looking at their use of the term. First off, it was always in the more Latin use of the phrase - Mary in cooperation with Christ. They never put the two on an equal plane. Second, they never did so in formal settings (at least, not that I’ve been able to find). The uses of the term were not done in a setting that required Catholics to accept the term.

In fact, there is something to consider in the way John Paul II handled the idea of Co-Redepmtrix. First off, you’ll have to admit that there have been few people who knew their Mariology better than JPII. However, in the entire length of his Mary-centered pontificate, he never dogmatically proclaimed the Co-Redemptrix idea. As Kevin Miller has pointed out, he had many good occasions to do so: the Jubilee Year of 2000, the international year of Mary in 1988, and the year of the Rosary in 2003. Even with these opportunities, it was not done.

Another contender in this discussion is Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI. In God and the world, the then Cardinal says:

I do not think there will be any compliance with this demand ... within the foreseeable future. The response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is, broadly, that what is signified by this is already better expressed in other titles of Mary, while 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.

But this “with‿ must not lead us to forget the “first" of Christ: Everything comes from Him, as the Letter to the Ephesians and the Letter to Colossians, in particular, tell us; Mary, too, is everything that she is through Him. [my emphasis]

The word “Co-redemptrix," would obscure this… For matters of faith, continuity of terminology with the language of Scripture and that of the Fathers is itself an essential element; it is improper simply to manipulate language.

Now, who’s the pope?

The simple fact is, the idea of Co-Redemptrix is just that – an idea. It’s something that theologians discuss amongst themselves (over high tea, perhaps, or around a roaring fire swilling tankards of mead). It may well fade away over time, in much the same way that Limbo has been discarded after generations of discussion.