November 15, 2007 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

In spite of claims of contemporary Catholic propagandists, the Roman Catholic Church worships Mary.

She has been exalted as the sinless Mother of God who was bodily assumed into Heaven and crowned Queen of the Universe by Jesus Christ. According to Roman Catholic doctrine, Mary sits on Jesus’ throne and acts as His co-mediatrix.

In the Church of the Mother of God of Polish Martyrs in Warsaw, Poland, Mary is depicted as hanging on the cross holding the child Jesus.

Outside of the main Mary basilica in Rome (Santa Maria Maggiore) there is a large crucifix with Jesus hanging on one side and a crowned Mary hanging on the other.

This statue depicts Rome’s dogma that Mary is the co-redemptress with Christ, that she intercedes for men from heaven and aids in their salvation.

Note the following quotations from the Vatican II Council of the 1960s:

“As St. Irenaeus says, she being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert with him in their preaching ... ‘death through Eve, LIFE THROUGH MARY.’ This UNION OF THE MOTHER WITH THE SON IN THE WORK OF SALVATION is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, chap. 8, II, 56, pp. 380-381).

“Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but BY HER MANIFOLD INTERCESSION CONTINUES TO BRING US THE GIFTS OF ETERNAL SALVATION. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of ADVOCATE, HELPER, BENEFACTRESS, and MEDIATRIX” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, chap. 8, II, 62, pp. 382-383).

A plaque in the Chapel of the Virgin of the Grace at Saints Vincent and Anastasius Church in Rome says, “Cardinal Benedetto Odescalchi, who became the pope with the name of Innocent XI, initiated THE WORSHIP OF THE IMAGE, placed on the altar in 1677, and wanted his heart to be buried here, not in the main chapel.”

This is only one example of many that could be given of the term “worship” used in regard to Mary in Rome’s churches.

For the picture of Mary hanging on the cross outside of the basilica Santa Maria Maggiore see part four of the report “In the Footsteps of Bible Translators” at the Way of Life web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/in-thefootsteps-bibletrans/index.html

For the picture of Mary hanging on the cross in the Church of the Mother of God of Polish Martyrs in Warsaw see the graphical edition of the Friday Church News Notes for September 28, 2007, at the Way of Life web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/fridaynews/news/2007/fridaynews070928.html