In Roman Catholic Mariology, Mother of the Church (in Latin Mater Ecclesiae) is a title, officially given to Mary during the Second Vatican Council by Pope Paul VI. The title was first used in the 4th century by Saint Ambrose of Milan, as rediscovered by Hugo Rahner.
The title "Mother of the Church" was used by Pope Benedict XIV in 1748 and then by Pope Leo XIII in 1885. Following the title's usage by Leo XIII], it was later used many times in the teachings of John XXIII and Paul VI. The title was also used by Pope John Paul II and is used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Pope John Paul II stated that overall the title indicates the Blessed Virgin Mary's maternity of Christ's faithful, as deriving from her maternity of Christ in that "Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as that Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John . Thus, in her new motherhood in the Spirit, Mary embraces each and every one in the Church, and embraces each and every one through the Church."
Read more about Mother Of The Church: St. Ambrose and Hugo Rahner, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words mother of, mother and/or church:
“Look at the mother of Washington! She raised a boy that could not tell a lie—could not tell a lie! But he never had any chance. It might have been different if he had belonged to the Washington Newspaper Correspondents’ Club”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“I went into the kitchen and got halfway to the phone before I realized that I couldn’t call her.... A lot of people who lost a mother or father or husband or wife will tell you that they find themselves almost talking out loud. I do that a lot.”
—Bill Clinton (b. 1946)
“At bottom, I mean profoundly at bottom, the FBI has nothing to do with Communism, it has nothing to do with catching criminals, it has nothing to do with the Mafia, the syndicate, it has nothing to do with trust-busting, it has nothing to do with interstate commerce, it has nothing to do with anything but serving as a church for the mediocre. A high church for the true mediocre.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)