History of Roman Catholic Mariology - Mariology in The 20th Century

Mariology in The 20th Century

Mariology in the 20th century was dominated by a genuine Marian enthusiasm both at the papal and popular levels. Membership in Roman Catholic Marian Movements and Societies grew significantly in the 20th century.

In 1904, in the first year of his Pontificate, Pope Pius X established the dogma of Immaculate Conception with the encyclical Ad Diem Illum. The papal enthuusiasm culminated in the Dogma of the Assumption by Pope Pius XII, and, the Second Vatican Council, declaring Mary as Mother of the Church. Fifteen hundred years after the Council of Ephesus, Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Lux Veritatis, reminding the Orthodox Christians of the common faith. He presided over a Mariological congress in 1931.

At the popular level, the 20th century witnessed unprecedented growth in the number of volunteer-based lay Marian devotional organizations such as free rosary distribution groups. An example is Our Lady's Rosary Makers which was formed with a $25 donation for a typewriter in 1949 and now has thousands of volunteers who have distributed hundreds of millions of free rosaries to Catholic missions worldwide.

The number of 20th century pilgrims visiting Marian churches set new records. In South America alone, two major Marian basilicas, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil and the new Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill were constructed and jointly recorded over 10 million visitors per year.