Four Marian Dogmas have already been proclaimed. They are
- Mary is the Mother of God (, Theotokos), proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
- Mary was Ever Virgin, before, during and after the birth of Jesus, proclaimed in 649.
- Mary was immaculately conceived, proclaimed by Pope Pius IX on 8th December 1854.
- Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul, proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on 1st November 1950.
There is growing support within the Catholic Church now for a fifth and final Marian dogma to be proclaimed, that Mary is Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of All Graces and Advocate. The movement Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici is at the forefront of the growing enthusiasm for this fifth dogma. Since 1993 this movement has collected more than five million signatures in 157 countries in support of the proclamation of this dogma.
Co-Remptrix: 'Co' is from the Latin 'cum' which means with. 'Co-Redemptrix means Our Lady is 'one with the Redeemer.' It refers to Our Lady's co-operation in our redemption. She co-operated with God at the Annunciation to give a body to Jesus. She suffered with Jesus at the foot of the cross. This title of Our Lady shows that suffering has supernatural value, that there is a value in accepting the cross.
Mediatrix of all Graces: This means that all the graces from the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit flow to us through Mary.
Advocate: As Advocate our petitions flow back to the Trinity through Mary. She is our human connection to the Trinity.
1 Tim 2:5 says there is one mediator between God and man, Jesus. But that does not take away from others mediating to a lesser extent. Mary is a mediator, but subordinate to the mediation of Jesus. We could say that we are all called to act as co-redeemers by uniting our sufferings with Jesus on the cross, we are all called to mediate the love of God to others and every time someone asks us to pray for them they are asking us to be an advocate before God for them. The fifth dogma will recognize the unique role of Mary as Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate.
These titles have already been used of Our Lady in the official magisterial teaching of the Church. The Vatican II document Lumen Gentium §62 refers to Mary as Mediatrix and Advocate. Also on 24th September 1997 Pope John Paul made a strong statement referring to Our Lady's role in our Redemption and referred to her role as our Mediatrix and Advocate. On 1st October 1997 Pope John Paul made a strong statement on Our Lady's role as Mediatrix.
In apparitions to Ida Peerdeman in Amsterdam (beginning with the thirtieth apparition on 1st April 1951) approved by the Catholic Church, Our Lady requested that this fifth dogma be proclaimed. (Official website of The Lady of All Nations) In the heavenly messages to Sister Agnes Sassagawa in Akita Japan, also approved by the Church, the fourth message (on 28th September 1981) refers to Our Lady as Co-Redemptrix.
It is the opinion of many that when this dogma is proclaimed the triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart will begin which she predicted at Fatima and that it will usher in a new Pentecost in the Church.