J.M.J. The Most Reverend Jaime Fuentes, the Bishop of Minas (Uruguay), proposed during the Synod on the Family that concluded yesterday that the Holy Father begin a consultation about the advisability of declaring as a Dogma the Doctrine of the Spiritual Maternity of Our Lady.
Bishop Fuentes said in part during his Intervention:
"Pope Francis wrote, 'every time we look upon Mary, we once again
believe in the revolutionary aspect of tenderness and caring'. She 'is the
Mother of the evangelizing Church; (…) and without her we will never fully
comprehend the spirit of the New Evangelization' (Enc. Evangelii gaudium, ns. 288
and 284).
"During the memorable Marian Year from 1987-1988, St. John Paul
II foresaw a task which, given the current context, acquires a singular
importance: the Church should prepare (…) boldly facing the future, the ways
of cooperating with Mary (cf. Enc. Redemptoris Mater, n. 49). To put it a
different way: in the mind of the Holy Pontiff, the Church would have to
discover how to 'make it easy' for the Virgin to exercise her Maternity,
which in her Immaculate Heart reaches all women and men on earth.
"In this way, the Catechism of the Catholic Church picks up a
splendid possibility: 'the dogmas--as it reads in number 89--are lights along the
path of faith; they illuminate it, and make it secure'. Venturing into the 'New Evangelization' and thinking in the 'ways' in which the Blessed
Mother’s maternal love can effectively reach her daughters and sons, without
exclusion wherever they may be, we should ask ourselves: 'Wouldn’t the
surest way be iter para tutum! ("Make a safe way for us")--the solemn and definitive proclamation of the
dogma of her spiritual Maternity, a joyous reality, believed, experienced
and loved by the Christian people? And wouldn't this act also be the
great momentum of holiness and apostolic purpose needed by the Church?'
"The answer to this double question should be given by the entire
Church body. This was clearly taught by Blessed Cardinal John Henry
Newman: 'the body of the faithful', he wrote, 'is one of the witnesses of
the traditional nature of revealed doctrine, and (…) said consensus
throughout Christianity, is the voice of the Infallible Church'. He taught
that, in preparing for a dogmatic definition, 'the laity had their
testimony to offer; but if there is ever a case where the laity should be
consulted, it is in regards to doctrines concerning directly on the devotional.
(…) The faithful have a special function in regards to those doctrinal
truths related to culture (…) and the Blessed Virgin is the preeminent
object of devotion' (J.H. Newman, The Faithful and Tradition [Los Fieles y la Tradición], Buenos Aires, pp. 63 and 110).
"To sum up, for these theological reasons, from which we can
obtain very rich consequences of a pastoral nature, and considering the
teaching of Pope Francis, that the 'sensus fidei' of the holy people of
God, in its unity is never mistaken (Homily, January 1, 2014), I want to
propose to the Holy Father to bring about a consultation directed to the
entire Church, Pastors and faithful, regarding the prudence of defining as
a truth of the faith, the doctrine of the Spiritual Maternity of Mary Most
Holy. Thank you very much."
Please see the following, courtesy of "Rome Reports."
http://www.romereports.com/2015/10/24/synod-bishop-calls-for-dogma-on-the-spiritual-maternity-of-our-lady-to-be-defined
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Let us thank and continue to plead with Almighty God through Our Lady of Guadalupe for the continuing preservation of Mexico from the frightful Hurricane Patricia.
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