In a tweet dated March 25, Pope Francis said, “Mary is not only the bridge joining us to God; she is more. She is the road that God travelled to reach us, and the road that we must travel in order to reach him.” This is not only heresy; it is blasphemy. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Pope John Paul II, widely praised by evangelical Protestant and even Baptist leaders, was also a great venerator of Mary. Engraved in his coffin, viewed at what has been called “the world’s largest funeral,” was a large letter M for Mary (The Evening Standard, London, Apr. 8, 2005). Thus his papal career ended as it began. When elected Pope in 1978, Karol Wojtyla dedicated his papacy to Mary, taking as his episcopal motto the Latin “Totus Tuus,” meaning “Totally Yours” (“John Paul II’s Devotion to Mary,” Inside the Vatican, special insert, May 1996). He had these words embroidered on his papal robes. John Paul II worshipped at Marian shrines throughout the world, including the Black Madonna in Jasna Gora, Poland, Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico. In his general audience of December 13, 1995, the pope observed that the Second Vatican Council applied the title of Mediatix to Mary and spoke of her “mediating role” and “her cooperation in a wholly singular way in the work of restoring supernatural life to souls” and “her exceptional role in the work of redemption” (“Council’s Teaching on Mary Is Rich and Positive,” Dec. 13, 1995, L’Osservatore Romano). In his general audience of May 7, 1997, the pope said that “MARY IS THE PATH THAT LEADS TO CHRIST…” (Vatican Information Service, May 7, 1997).
(Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org , 866-295-4143)