Mariology and Christology
Mariology (the study of Mary) has been related to Christology (the study of Christ) and in Roman Catholic teachings has been positioned as a logical and necessary consequence of Christology: Jesus and Mary are son and mother, redeemer and redeemed. Pope John Paul II expressed this concept in Redemptoris Mater by stating: "At the center of this mystery, in the midst of this wonderment of faith, stands Mary. As the loving Mother of the Redeemer, she was the first to experience it: "To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator"!" Roman Catholic theologians have also expressed the view that: "Mariology is Christology developed to its full potential".
In Roman Catholic theology, Mary and her son Jesus are very close but not identical. Therefore, the study of Mary, while contributing to the study of Christ, is also a separate discipline in its own right, with an understanding of the figure of Mary contributing to a fuller understanding of who Christ is and what he did. In the Roman Catholic view, a Christology without Mary is incomplete because it is not based on the total revelation of the Bible.
Early Christians and numerous saints focused on this parallel interpretation. Popes highlighted the inner link between Marian dogmas and the full acceptance of christological dogma. The Church is the people of God as she is the Body of Christ. The Church lives in its relation to Christ. Being the Body of Christ, the Church has also a relation to his mother, which is the subject of Catholic Mariology. She is seen as the original image of the Church, or, as Vatican II states, Mother of the Church.
In his 1946 publication Compendium Mariologiae, respected Mariologist Gabriel Roschini explained that Mary did not only participate in the birth of the physical Jesus but also, with conception, she entered with him into a spiritual union. The divine salvation plan, being not only material, includes a permanent spiritual unity with Christ. Most Mariologists agree with this position. This echoed the sentiments of Pope Saint Pius X who in Ad Diem Illum stated: "there is no more direct road than by Mary for uniting all mankind in Christ."
Mariology is ongoing. It includes dogmas, traditions, confirmed and hypothetical theological positions on Mary, contemporary as well as historical. Mariology is not simply a theological field studied by a few scholars, but a devotional concept embraced by millions of Catholics who venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mariology differs from other parts of theology in that its progress has quite often been driven from the ground up, from the masses of believers, and in some cases from religious experiences of young and simple children on remote hilltops, which have then influenced the higher levels of the Holy See in Rome via sensus fidei.
Mariology is both part of abstract doctrine and an important part of church life. Marian doctrines of the Catholic Church, including the four dogmas mentioned below, are the central part of Mariology consisting of confirmed teachings and doctrines regarding Mary's life and role, but excluding the overall perspectives, the controversies and the cultural aspects of Marian devotion.
Marian devotions, prayers, pilgrimages and apparitions are detailed in the article on Blessed Virgin Mary. This article focuses on the major doctrinal and theological issues, rather than devotional aspects.
Read more about this topic: Roman Catholic Mariology