Devotion to Mary “not an optional addition reserved for some Catholics”: Apostolic Nuncio in South Africa

Johannesburg, 08 December, 2025 / 4:27 PM

The representative of the Holy Father in South Africa has emphasized the centrality of the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary to all the baptized.

In a December 6 lecture on the Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church, given at an ecumenical gathering at the Apostolic Nunciature in Pretoria, Archbishop Henryk Mieczysław Jagodziński also spoke about the ecumenical value of the Marian devotion.

“Marian devotion is not an optional addition, a pious ‘extra’ reserved for some Catholics. It belongs to the very heart of Christian life – for every baptized person,” Archbishop Jagodziński said.

He noted that “to live with Mary is to learn how to live as a Christian: how to say ‘yes’ to God in every circumstance, how to notice the needs of others, how to bring every need to Jesus, how to remain faithful even when we do not understand, and how to persevere in prayer while waiting for the Holy Spirit.”

“Far from being an obstacle in ecumenical dialogue, authentic Marian devotion—rooted in Scripture and the earliest tradition—is one of the most powerful bridges that can unite all who believe in Jesus Christ,” he said.

Archbishop Jagodziński emphasized that the Blessed Virgin Mary “is not a ‘Catholic invention’” but “the Mother of the Lord—the same Lord whom Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Anglicans, Copts, Assyrians, Lutherans, Reformed, Pentecostals, and countless others confess as Savior and God.”

“Every Christian tradition, without exception, honors the woman who said ‘fiat,’ who gave birth to the Word made flesh, who stood beneath the Cross, and who prayed with the apostles at Pentecost,” the Vatican diplomat said.

He observed that “When Christians of different confessions come together around the Gospel and recognize in Mary the Mother of the one Lord, she becomes a point of communion rather than division.”

“She is the Mother of unity because she is the Mother of the one Body of Christ,” Archbishop Jagodziński said, noting that “history shows this again and again: at Lourdes, at Fatima, at Guadalupe, at Częstochowa, at Walsingham, at Aparecida—Christians of every tradition have knelt together before the same Mother and have been drawn more deeply into love for her Son.”

He continued, “To love and honor Mary never diminishes Christ—it magnifies Him, because the Son delights to see His Mother honored, just as every son delights to see his mother loved and respected.”

The Apostolic Nuncio urged the people of God at the ecumenical event not to fear entrusting themselves “more fully to Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of all who believe in her Son,” particularly “in a world torn by division, in a Church that longs for visible unity.”

He said, “She who gathered the apostles in the Upper Room and prayed with them until the Holy Spirit came is still able to gather all the scattered children of God and pray with us until the prayer of Jesus is fulfilled: ‘That they may all be one … so that the world may believe’ (Jn 17:21).” 

“Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, Woman of the ‘fiat,’ Woman of the Cross, Woman of Pentecost, Queen of the Apostles, and Mother of the Church—pray for us sinners, pray for the unity of all who bear the name of your Son, now and at the hour of our death,” the Apostolic Nuncio said.