Appealing to Pope Leo XIV the International Marian Association Releases a 23-page Critique of Mater Populi Fidelis
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On December 8, 2025, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Theological Commission (TC) of the International Marian Association (IMA) released a 23-page response to Mater Populi Fidelis (MPF) - a doctrinal note concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role in Redemption that was published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on November 4, 2025. This Response from the TC respectfully requests a re-evaluation of Mater Populi Fidelis “that will lead to a new expression of the ordinary Magisterium concerning [these] critically important Marian doctrines and titles in great consistency, development, and harmony with the doctrinal teachers of previous popes. Among such teachings are those that recognize the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces.”
The association’s theological commission includes cardinals, bishops, and over 40 internationally reknowned theologians and Mariologists such as U.S. Professor Dr. Scott Hahn, Dr. Mark Miravalle, and Dr. Michael Sirilla.With over 100 members from 25 countries spanning the 5 continents, the IMA operates in obedience to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. It's board of advisors includes, His Eminence, Cardinal Sandoval-Iñiguez Archdiocese of Guadalajara, Mexico His Eminence, Baselios Cleemis Cardinal Thottunkal Cardinal Priest of San Gregorio VII Archbishop Malayappan Chinnappa, S.B.D. Archdiocese of Madras, India (Emeritus) among others.
With over 100 members from 25 countries spanning the 5 continents, the IMA operates in
obedience to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.
They write, in accordance with both Donum Veritatis, n. 30 and Canon 212, the TC maintains that
there remain significant theological points in MPF that require substantial clarification
and modification.
FULL TEXT Letter - A Filial Appeal to the Holy Father
regarding Mater Populi Fidelis
Filial Appeal to the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV
following the publication of the doctrinal Note Mater Populi Fidelis
Most Holy Father,
With filial devotion we address this appeal to Your Holiness, giving humble voice to the dismay and consternation felt by a significant portion of the holy People of God after the publication, on 4 November 2025, of the mariological Note Mater Populi Fidelis by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
As children of the Church, our consciences are profoundly troubled as we read the statements contained in this Note regarding certain Marian titles that refer to the cooperation of Mary Most Holy in the work of our salvation. How can we not be afflicted to see this new mariological position set itself in clear opposition to the teaching handed down until now—teaching which has always recognized in the Virgin Mary a unique, real, and maternal role in the economy of Redemption?
It is not a question, as the Note might seem to suggest, of replacing or updating certain titles deemed ambiguous or inopportune, but of cutting away—together with the titles “Co-redemptrix” and “Mediatrix of all Graces”—the very doctrine these titles embody. Indeed, the Catholic truth concerning Mary’s active cooperation in the saving work of her Son appears to be diminished, if not denied outright, as though it could stand in opposition to the sole mediation of Christ, rather than being rooted in it and entirely dependent upon it.
We therefore ask ourselves whether we must conclude that the Saints, the Doctors of the Church—including St. John Henry Newman, whom Your Holiness proclaimed a Doctor of the Church—and the numerous Popes who taught this doctrine, were all mistaken. Even Your own homily of 9 June 2025, delivered for the Jubilee of the Holy See, in which You described the Virgin as the “New Eve” associated with the redeeming death of her divine Son, now seems to be overshadowed.
The intent of the Note, unfortunately, appears clear: for unspecified ecumenical reasons, it seeks to minimize the great mariology developed by the Church Fathers, the great theologians, and the Magisterium—a mariology substantially reflected also in chapter VIII of Lumen gentium.
Mary is presented in Mater Populi Fidelis as a simple disciple of Jesus, whose cooperation is merely receptive and subordinate to that of the Church, without a true acknowledgment of what the Most Holy Virgin has done for us in bringing us to new life in the supernatural order.
Either Mary is our Mother or she is not. And if she is, she cannot exercise only a passive role in relation to the primacy and omnipotence of Christ’s saving action. Mary is associated with Christ just as Eve was with Adam. Eve, with Adam, was the cause of our ruin. Mary, in Christ and with Christ, was the cause of our salvation (St Irenaeus of Lyons).
If the Note were truly justified, what then would become of the Miraculous Medal, the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the innumerable ex-votos that adorn our Marian shrines, the Holy Rosary, and all the Marian devotions that presuppose—and embody—the true and maternal mediation of Mary?
Holy Father, we desire to remain faithful to the patrimony of Catholic doctrine and to the perennial faith of the Church. For this reason, with filial trust, we beg Your Holiness to hear our sorrow and intervene in whatever manner You deem most fitting, so that the honor, truth, and special veneration owed to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Our Mother, may be restored.
Confident in Your pastoral solicitude, we commend Your Holiness to the protection of our Most Holy Mother, with sentiments of filial obedience.
Click to download and send the Filial Appeal to the Holy Father. If this isn’t possible, you may also sign it online: Filial Appeal to Pope Leo XIV
FULL TEXT Letter - A Filial Appeal to the Holy Father
regarding Mater Populi Fidelis
Filial Appeal to the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV
following the publication of the doctrinal Note Mater Populi Fidelis
Most Holy Father,
With filial devotion we address this appeal to Your Holiness, giving humble voice to the dismay and consternation felt by a significant portion of the holy People of God after the publication, on 4 November 2025, of the mariological Note Mater Populi Fidelis by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
As children of the Church, our consciences are profoundly troubled as we read the statements contained in this Note regarding certain Marian titles that refer to the cooperation of Mary Most Holy in the work of our salvation. How can we not be afflicted to see this new mariological position set itself in clear opposition to the teaching handed down until now—teaching which has always recognized in the Virgin Mary a unique, real, and maternal role in the economy of Redemption?
It is not a question, as the Note might seem to suggest, of replacing or updating certain titles deemed ambiguous or inopportune, but of cutting away—together with the titles “Co-redemptrix” and “Mediatrix of all Graces”—the very doctrine these titles embody. Indeed, the Catholic truth concerning Mary’s active cooperation in the saving work of her Son appears to be diminished, if not denied outright, as though it could stand in opposition to the sole mediation of Christ, rather than being rooted in it and entirely dependent upon it.
We therefore ask ourselves whether we must conclude that the Saints, the Doctors of the Church—including St. John Henry Newman, whom Your Holiness proclaimed a Doctor of the Church—and the numerous Popes who taught this doctrine, were all mistaken. Even Your own homily of 9 June 2025, delivered for the Jubilee of the Holy See, in which You described the Virgin as the “New Eve” associated with the redeeming death of her divine Son, now seems to be overshadowed.
The intent of the Note, unfortunately, appears clear: for unspecified ecumenical reasons, it seeks to minimize the great mariology developed by the Church Fathers, the great theologians, and the Magisterium—a mariology substantially reflected also in chapter VIII of Lumen gentium.
Mary is presented in Mater Populi Fidelis as a simple disciple of Jesus, whose cooperation is merely receptive and subordinate to that of the Church, without a true acknowledgment of what the Most Holy Virgin has done for us in bringing us to new life in the supernatural order.
Either Mary is our Mother or she is not. And if she is, she cannot exercise only a passive role in relation to the primacy and omnipotence of Christ’s saving action. Mary is associated with Christ just as Eve was with Adam. Eve, with Adam, was the cause of our ruin. Mary, in Christ and with Christ, was the cause of our salvation (St Irenaeus of Lyons).
If the Note were truly justified, what then would become of the Miraculous Medal, the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the innumerable ex-votos that adorn our Marian shrines, the Holy Rosary, and all the Marian devotions that presuppose—and embody—the true and maternal mediation of Mary?
Holy Father, we desire to remain faithful to the patrimony of Catholic doctrine and to the perennial faith of the Church. For this reason, with filial trust, we beg Your Holiness to hear our sorrow and intervene in whatever manner You deem most fitting, so that the honor, truth, and special veneration owed to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Our Mother, may be restored.
Confident in Your pastoral solicitude, we commend Your Holiness to the protection of our Most Holy Mother, with sentiments of filial obedience.
Click to download and send the Filial Appeal to the Holy Father. If this isn’t possible, you may also sign it online: Filial Appeal to Pope Leo XIV
Source:https://sites.google.com/view/supplica-mater-populi-fidelis/filial-appeal-to-the-holy-father-pope-leo-xiv
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