8.172. Benedict XVI said Mary “remained deeply faithful to her own people” and joined Jewish worship. Doesn’t that mean she respected her Jewish heritage?
On January 17, 2010, during his visit to the Rome Synagogue, Antipope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) stated:
“The mother of Jesus, while remaining deeply faithful to her own people, devoutly participated in the worship of the True God.”
At first glance, this statement may seem to honor the Blessed Virgin’s Jewish background. But on closer examination, it is gravely misleading and theologically dangerous. It suggests that Mary’s fidelity to the Old Covenant continued alongside her role in the New, as if the Old Law were still valid or parallel after Christ’s coming.
This is heretical. The Catholic Church has always taught that with the coming of Christ, the Old Covenant was fulfilled and abrogated. The temple worship, the Mosaic sacrifices, and all ceremonial aspects of the Old Law ceased to have salvific value. Any participation in Jewish rites after Pentecost would be, objectively, a denial of Christ.
The Blessed Virgin Mary was not merely a pious Jew who continued Jewish customs. She is the New Eve, who stood at the foot of the Cross, received the fullness of grace, and was intimately united with Christ’s redemptive mission. After Pentecost, she was fully joined to the new sacramental life of the Church—not to the old synagogue worship that rejected the Messiah.
To suggest that Mary remained within Jewish religious life implies that the Jewish religion remained valid after Christ—which is a central heresy of Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate and the post-conciliar “popes”. It also blasphemously implies that the Mother of God somehow lived in two religions, which contradicts her unique role as the perfect model of the Catholic Church.
| Category | True Catholic Teaching | Benedict XVI’s Statement | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary’s Faith | Wholly centered on Christ; model of Catholic fidelity | Remained deeply faithful to the Jewish people and their worship | Implies she remained tied to the Old Law after its fulfillment |
| Old Covenant | Fulfilled and superseded by Christ; no longer salvific | Implied to still express “worship of the true God” | Contradicts the Council of Florence and St. Paul’s epistles |
| Mary’s Role | Mother of the Church; first and perfect Christian | Presented as continuing in Jewish religious fidelity | Undermines her identity as the first disciple of the New Covenant |
| The Synagogue | Rejected Christ and lost covenantal status after Pentecost | Presented as still a legitimate place of “true worship” | Blasphemous and misleading; rejects *Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus* |
| Fruits of This View | Clarity of faith, Marian devotion, evangelization of Jews | Religious indifferentism, syncretism, doctrinal confusion | “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) |
Summary:
The idea that the Blessed Virgin Mary “remained deeply faithful to her own people” and participated in Jewish worship after Christ's redemptive mission is a theological contradiction and a grave scandal. Mary is the Mother of the New Covenant, not a figure of interreligious dialogue.
This statement by Benedict XVI reflects the same heresy of Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate—that Judaism remains a valid religion after the coming of Christ. But Scripture and tradition teach clearly:
“He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father who hath sent Him.”
“There is no longer Jew or Gentile... for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
To claim that Mary continued in the rites of a religion that rejected her Son is to do violence to her dignity and role. She is the Immaculate Conception, the Mother of the Eucharist, and the Queen of the Church—not a symbol of ecumenical ambiguity.