Do Catholics worship Mary? As an outsider (Protestant) looking in, I think they do. Yet, if you ask a Catholic, you’re likely to be told, “we worship God; we honor Mary.” Why the confusion? I think its safe to say that in the history of mankind, no woman has been more venerated than Mary. This veneration has its roots in and can be almost exclusively attributed to the Catholic Church. So, to answer this question of Mary worship, we must understand what the Catholic Church teaches about Mary:
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (ref in brackets):
- Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin from the first instant of her conception (the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception) [490-492]
- Mary “the All-Holy,” lived a perfectly sinless life [411, 493]
- Mary was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Christ [496-511]
- Mary is the Mother of God [963, 971, 2677]
- Mary is the Mother of the Church [963, 975]
- Mary is the co-redeemer, for she participated with Christ in the painful act of redemption [618, 964, 968, 970]
- At the end of her life, Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven (the doctrine of the Assumption) [966, 974]
- Mary is the co-mediator to whom we can entrust all our cares and petitions [968-970]
- We should entrust ourselves to Mary, surrendering ” ‘the hour of our death’ wholly to her care” [2677]
- God has exalted Mary in heavenly glory as Queen of Heaven and Earth [966]. She is to be praised with special devotion [971, 2675]
So, the Catholic Church views Mary as (1) Co-redemptrix, (2) Mediatrix and (3) Queen of Heaven. As Co-redemptrix, she cooperates with Christ in the work of saving sinners. As Mediatrix of all graces, she now dispenses God’s blessings and grace to the spiritually needy. As Queen of Heaven, she rules providentially with Christ, the King of Heaven. Thus, “There is one Mediator between Christ and men, the Holy Mother Mary. Mary is the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to Jesus but by Mary.” (Walter Martin, The Roman Catholic Church in History pg 49)
As a result of teaching such as this, the Catholic Church logically teaches Mary’s right to veneration by faithful Catholics. Because of her role in the economy of salvation, Mary is worthy of special adoration. In light of this, its difficult to deny the response of Protestants that Mary has been elevated from the status of creature into “the supernatural perfection of the life of God” or that “Mary’s role is often delineated by Catholicism in a way that the gospels ascribe exclusively to Christ.” (G. C. Berkouwer, The Conflict With Rome pg 174).
To further illustrate the Catholic Churches exaltation of Mary, consider these statements:
- from Pope Leo XIII: “Nothing according to the will of God comes to us except through Mary…nobody can approach Christ except through the Mother”;
- from Pope Pius XI: “With Jesus, Mary has redeemed the human race”;
- from Pope Pius XII: [Mary] offered him [Jesus] on Golgotha to the eternal Father…for all the children of Adam.”
These statements were reiterated at Vatican II (1968) and by modern Catholic theologians. Vatican II declared, “Taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving role, but by her manifold acts of intercession continued to win for us gifts of eternal salvation.” In The Catholic Catechism, John Hardin writes, “Alongside her Son, Mary has become part of this plan [of salvation] by continuing her share to the justification of the human race, beginning with herself and extending to everyone ever justified.”
In essence, the Church’s exaltation of Mary at the theological level has resulted in her worship at the grass-roots level. How can one dispute this fact when Pope John Paul II, in his book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope refers to his “total abandonment to Mary” and to having chosen the following motto for his papacy, “Totus Tuus” (I am completely yours, O Mary”).
It’s true that the Church distinguishes latria (adoration due to God alone) from hyperdulia (special veneration given only to Mary) and dulia (veneration given the saints). However, in practice, how can one make such a fine distinction? How does someone attempting to give hyperdulia to Mary, refrain from giving latria? I have no doubt in my mind that Catholics are true to their faith in following the Church’s edicts, but what we’re talking about here are levels or varying degrees of worship. It isn’t a matter of semantics–replacing the word, ‘worship’ with ‘honor’–but the actions of the individual. And it is the product of one’s actions that result in this idolatry.
Although Jesus gave the appropriate respect to Mary as His mother, he never set her apart as the Catholic Church has. According to Rome, Mary has been more blessed by God than any other mortal. In the words of Pope Paul VI, citing Vatical II, “The place she occupies in the Church [is] ‘the highest place and the closest to us after Jesus.’” But according to Luke 11:27-28, Jesus himself denied Catholic views when He taught that those who obey God are actually more blessed than Mary–than if they had given birth to the Messiah himself: “As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, ‘Blessed is the mother who gave birth and nursed you.’ He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those that hear the word of God and obey it.’”
And the word of God is that “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:2-6)
The bottom line: If you’re praying to Mary, you’re not praying to God.
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