Q&A: Why did the Second Vatican Council downgrade devotion to Our Lady?
Father J. Patrick Gaffney, SMM
Downgrade? No ecumenical council of the Church since the beginning of her history has ever spoken at such length and with such beauty about Mary as has the Second Vatican Council. What you are referring to as a “downgrade” is most probably a reference to the debate concerning whether the teaching on Our Blessed Mother should be included in the Constitution on the Church or be a separate document of its own. The media made it appear that those who wanted it as part of the document on the Church were “anti-Marian,” which was definitely not true. When that position won by a narrow margin, it was erroneously interpreted to mean that the Church downgraded Mary. The Marian teaching of Vatican II – approved overwhelmingly by the Council fathers—is found principally in chapter eight of the Constitution on the Church. It is without any doubt a magnificent teaching on Mary, the summary, exemplar and Mother of the Church. It is not a “downgrade.”
Note from Editor.
While the question asks about devotion to Mary, in a specific context, if you wish to learn more about devotion, there is an audio conference on Devotion to Mary – Transformation of the Heart. Conference #3 discusses devotion, but we encourage you to listen to all of the conferences to understand what Devotion to Mary leads to in our Spiritual Lives.
