Mariology
Hugo Rahner's great achievement was his rediscovery, in the Fathers, of the indivisibility of Mary and the Church. Pope Benedict XVI
Rahner's Mariology following Ambrose of Milan, sees Mary in her role within the Church. His interpretation, based solely on the early writers, greatly influenced Vatican II and, who, quoting Ambrose, declared Mary the "Mother of the Church", a view continued by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who specifically gives credit to Rahner on this point.
On first sight, Benedict XVI argues, it may seem accidental, that the Council moved mariology into ecclesiology. This relation helps to understand what "Church" really is. but, so Benedict XVI, Hugo Rahner showed that Mariology was originally ecclesiology. The Church is like Mary.
The Church is virgin and mother, she is immaculate and carries the burdens of history. She suffers and she is assumed into heaven. Slowly she learnes, that Mary is her mirror, that she is a person in Mary. Mary on the other hand is not an isolated individual, who rests in herself. She is carrying the mystery of the Church.
Pope Benedict XVI lamented that this unity of Church and Mary, shown by Rahner, was overshadowed in later centuries, which overburdened Mary with privileges and removed her into a far away distance. Both mariology and ecclesiology suffered under this. A Marian view of the Church and an ecclesiological view of Mary in salvation history lead directly to Christ. It brings to light what is meant by holiness and by God being human. Only one work on mariology, Our Lady and the Church, is translated into English. It received great praise not only from Pope Benedict XVI but also from American Cardinal Avery Dulles:
- "With engaging clarity, this pioneering study sets forth the vast range of biblical metaphors the Fathers applied to Mary and the Church: ark of the covenant, valiant woman, treasure-laden ship. This rich theology of poetry and image has much to say to our more prosaic age."
—Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.
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