Fra Roderic Mary Burke writes:

Ave Maria!

Dear Mark,

There is a New major, 5-pronged push for 5th Marian Dogma: Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate.

With several events occurring this year inspired by these Cardinals:

Toppo Martinez Gagnon Estevez Schonborn Varkey Vidal Spidlik Trujillo

who gathered for a symposium in Fatima with over 40 Bishops and wrote a book which they presented to Pope Benedict XVI on June 3, 2006.

Mary, Unique Cooperator in the Redemption
Why Mary should be dogmatically declared as Coredeemer
Authored by: Nine Cardinals of the Church and other Major Marian Theologians
Published by the Franciscans of the Immaculate.

A five pronged effort:
1.. Hierarchical: Conference, Book, Presentation to the Pope
2.. Theological: International Symposium at Fatima July 17-19, 2007 (part of a Series 2000-2007 and beyond)
3.. Popular Conference: with prominent apologists Scott Hahn, Mark Miravalle, Fr. Pablo Straub, Raymond deSouza, Jason Evert, Fr. Peter Fehlner and Bishop Raymond Burke.
4.. Video Series: on Air Maria with Mark Miravalle.
5.. Lay Petition Drive: to Pope Benedict XVI for the 5th Marian Dogma.
For a quick visual impact of the depth and breadth of the support for this initiative I put together a pictorial snap-shot of some of the bigger players in this new effort here:

Ave Maria!

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Personally, I don't think B16 will go for it. He's made it pretty clear that he prefers to stick closer to biblical language and he's not eager to define as dogma a term that is guaranteed to create still more misunderstandings. Here's is my discussion of this matter from Behold Your Mother. It's from the chapter on the Holy Rosary, wherein I take the opportunity to discuss each mystery of the Rosary and, where appropriate, discuss other pious titles for Mary in the Tradition. This is my meditation on the First Sorrowful Mystery:

The Agony in the Garden

Another title sometimes used to honor Mary is "Co-Redemptrix". It's not an "official title". It's just an expression of piety among some Catholics. And it affords a fairly typical example of the way in which the Church mulls things over for long time (usually centuries) before it makes any hard and fast decisions. At present, the Church doesn't condemn the title, but it doesn't encourage it either. A few years ago, Pope Benedict XVI (then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) was asked about the many petitions Rome has received asking that Mary be formally declared "Co-Redemptrix." He replied:

I do not think there will be any compliance with this demand, which in the meantime is being supported by several million people, within the foreseeable future. The response of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is, broadly, that what is signified by this is already better expressed in other titles of Mary, while the formula "Co-redemptrix" departs to too great an extent from the language of Scripture and of the Fathers and therefore gives rise to misunderstandings... A correct intention is being expressed in the wrong way. For matters of faith, continuity of terminology with the language of Scripture and that of the Fathers is itself an essential element; it is improper simply to manipulate language.

So does this mean the Church condemns those who honor her by this title? No. It just means that Pope Benedict is (rightly) worried non-Catholics will not understand the "correct intention" behind the title. So the title remains, for the foreseeable future, something Catholics may use if it matters to them (providing they rightly understand what it means) but it's not something one finds in the Church's liturgy or dogma.

That said, it's worth asking what "correct intention" lies behind the title. And when we do ask, we discover a truth similar to that behind the similarly unofficial honorific "co-Mediatrix." For while Mary did not die for our sins, it's also true that her sufferings were joined to those of Jesus, for the good of the Church. That's not because she's a goddess. That's because the innocent sufferings of every Christian in the world are joined to Jesus' sufferings for the good of the Church. That's solidly biblical teaching. It's why Paul could write "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Colossians 1:24). And it's why the Catholic Faith offers such profound consolation for those who suffer innocently. For since Jesus has joined Himself to us in our pain, our pains are joined with his. Our suffering is not simply meaningless garbage that happens to no purpose and does no one any good. Rather, our pain, joined with Jesus on the Cross, has value for His Body, the Church and makes us participants in the redemption of the world.

This is supremely seen in Mary's endurance of her suffering. For, of course, there are two kinds of agony: the agony we feel for ourselves and the agony we feel for another. Jesus felt all the terror of mortal flesh when He contemplated the fate that was snaking toward Him as the little trail of torches wended its way across the Kidron Valley and up the slope of the Mount of Olives on Holy Thursday evening. He sweated blood and begged to be spared. Three times He pleaded with His Father to let the cup pass from Him. But it could not pass. In that hour, His disciples slept and He was completely alone.

Except for one kindred spirit. We do not know where Mary was at this time. The Gospels are silent. But we know ordinary human experience. We know the anguish of a mother who begs God that her baby be spared the ravages of cancer and that she suffer in her child's place. We know of parents who drown in the attempt to save their children. We know of parents who push their children out of the way of oncoming cars and are killed or crippled to save them. We know the agonies of parents bereft of their sons and daughters by drunk drivers, or school violence, or the thousand idiot havocs the world wreaks on our lives. We know how powerfully their hearts cry out like David's and say, "Would that I had died instead of you!" And because of this we know that Mary could not have contemplated the terrible agonies Jesus was about to face without wishing with all her heart that she could take the blows rather than Him. Jesus' cup was to endure hanging upon the Cross. Mary's cup was to endure not hanging upon the Cross.

The passage from Cardinal Ratzinger notwithstanding, I must add the caveat that my opinion is a purely human one, based on human evidences. I don't see Joseph Ratzinger approving this petition anytime soon. But ultimately, of course, it's not up to him. If the Holy Spirit wishes it done then it will be, somehow. I, however, don't know the Holy Spirit's mind here, so I go with what I know and incline to think that if the Spirit *does* wish Co-Redemptrix to be the fifth Marian dogma he will either have to do something spectacular to change B16's mind or else he's waiting for some future Pope to accomplish this particular work. I myself have no problem with the title, because I know what it means. I simply note that B16's pastoral reservations are perfectly understandable.