Pope Francis: The Blessed Virgin Mary wasn’t a saint from the beginning

In a  Dec. 21, 2018 audience, referring to Our Lady and St. Joseph, Pope Francis told employees of the Vatican that “saints are not born, they become thus, and this is true for them too.” Below is the exact message of the Pope:

Our Lady and Saint Joseph are full of joy: they look at the Child Jesus and they are happy because, after a thousand worries, they have accepted this gift of God, with so much faith and so much love. They are “overflowing” with holiness and therefore with joy. And you will tell me: of course! They are Our Lady and Saint Joseph! Yes, but let us not think it was easy for them: saints are not born, they become thus, and this is true for them too.

Needless to say, it is most certainly generally true that saints are not born but made over time, with penance and prayer, enabled and aided by the grace of God (cf. Mt 11:30). However, the Blessed Virgin Mary is an exception in that she was perfectly holy from the very beginning of her existence, and this is a dogma defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854:

…To the honor of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, to the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, to the exaltation of the Catholic Faith and the increase of the Christian religion, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, and by Our own, We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine, which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary at the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of Christ Jesus, the Savior of the human race, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and on this account must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.

Wherefore, if any should presume to think in their hearts otherwise than as it has been defined by Us, which God avert, let them know and understand that they are condemned by their own judgment; that they have suffered shipwreck in regard to faith, and have revolted from the unity of the Church; and what is more, that by their own act they subject themselves to the penalties established by law, if, what they think in their heart, they should to signify by word or writing or any other external means. – (Pope Pius IX, Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus; Denz. 1641)

So, not only was the Blessed Virgin Mary born a saint — “full of grace” (Lk 1:28) — she was conceived one, too. In other words, she has always been a saint, even from the very first moment of her existence. There was never an instant in which she existed without this fullness of grace; at no point was she ever under the dominion of the devil. This was already hinted at right after the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Gen 3:15).

Not the First Time

In his General Audience on September 11, 2013, the Pope also subtly denied the Immaculate Conception, implying that the Church is like Mary and has flaws. In particular, he said that “what is said of the Church can also be said of Our Lady”:

The Church and the Virgin Mary are mothers, both of them; what is said of the Church can be said also of Our Lady and what is said of Our Lady can also be said of the Church. Do we love the Church as we love our mothers, also taking into account her defects? All mothers have defects, we all have defects, but when we speak of our mother’s defects we gloss over them, we love her as she is. And the Church also has her defects: but we love her just as a mother. Do we help her to be more beautiful, more authentic, more in harmony with the Lord?

Pope Pius XVI: A “Daring Method Used by Innovators to Establish Error” 

It is true that Pope Francis also says very noble and beautiful things about the Holy Mother of God, affirming the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.  However, it is also true there is documented proof that the Pope has subtly denied the Immaculate Conception multiple times. 

We recall what Pope Pius VI said about the “innovators” he was condemning at the end of the eighteenth century:

Their way of speaking and acting cannot be excused in the way that one sees it being done, under the erroneous pretext that the seemingly shocking affirmations in one place are further developed along orthodox lines in other places, and even in yet other places corrected; as if allowing for the possibility of either affirming or denying the statement, or of leaving it up to the personal inclinations of the individual – such has always been the fraudulent and daring method used by innovators to establish error. It allows for both the possibility of promoting error and of excusing it. – (Pope Pius VI, Apostolic Constitution Auctorem Fidei, introduction)

Regarding the heretic Nestorius in particular, the same Pope said:

…he expressed himself in a plethora of words, mixing true things with others that were obscure; mixing at times one with the other in such a way that he was also able to confess those things which were denied while at the same time possessing a basis for denying those very sentences which he confessed.∎

Paul Simeon, Veritas

18 Comments

  1. We do not know how pope francis will evolve in the future, however as he is
    now, he is a very evil person. If mary was not born holy, then jesus did not
    recieve a holy birth. I as a former protestant know what treasure we have in
    our holiest mother. Bergolio has no faith nor shame. The message of fatima is
    playing out down to the iota, and it was mary through sister lucia, that brought
    us that message. Bergolio knows that and does not like it for obvious reasons.
    We must remain loyal to our holy mother church, and not to bregolios false
    church.

    1. Yes true except that we do know what becomes of Bergoglio in the future (at least to some extent). Read prophecies about the false prophet. And may God bless you always! In Jesus through Mary+++

  2. What is happening with Bergolio? Mary was born Holy. She arrived is this world plenty of Grace, free of original sin. At the other wise she could not be Our Holy Mother. It is missing the respect for Her, Bergolio.

  3. This Pope has done more to undermine the authority of our mother Church how could anyone have respect for him.

  4. Bible “Things of the Spirit you know not” the truth of which holds good for this Vicar, even a Politician seeking rock- star status, that Jesus sought not , for when they wanted to make him king he fled from them.

    1. Our lady of fatima did not speak of a disorientation in the church, but rather a
      diabolicol disorientation. It has been going on for some time alrady, and it
      appears that mr. bergolio is the culmanation.

  5. Keep up the good work vincit veritas. You are waking the good spirits. God
    Bless you all.

  6. I am afraid! People are following him. They believe in his words. He is against all we know about Our Immaculade Mother.

  7. God said “Do not be afraid!” Join the army of Crusade prayer groups who work to turn people away from this Great Deception- through the graces given by God Himself. Join like-minded souls who love Him.

  8. Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee. Mary was born the spotless maid, spotless being without the blemish of Original Sin. Mary is our Mother also, she is the Mother of Salvation.

  9. The Virgin Mary is more than a saint, since she wasn’t conceived in the state of original sin. She doesn’t qualify for sainthood for this reason. Moreover, our Blessed Mother is graced more than all the saints combined. This is the opinion of many great Catholic theologians. Perhaps Pope Francis had this thought in mind.

  10. I should elaborate that the Virgin Mary isn’t a saint in the ordinary sense, since she was made a saint in her mother’s womb before she was born and remained one her entire life.

  11. I am a Protestant and ask only that Mary was a virgin, but we all have original sin? Correct? Nothing I can find in scripture says otherwise. Thank you.

    1. by the Grace of God, Mary is ever virgin, from her conception until her Ascension in Heaven. We all have original sin yes, but with one exception – the Blessed Virgin Mary.

  12. by the Grace of God, Mary was a virgin from her conception until her Ascension in Heaven. We all have original sin yes, but with one an exception – the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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