The Vatican has officially directed Catholics to stop referring to the Virgin Mary as a “co-redeemer” or “co-redemptrix” with Jesus Christ.

According to a new decree from the Vatican’s doctrinal office, approved by the Pope, Jesus alone redeemed humanity through His sacrifice on the cross, and while Mary played a vital role by giving birth to Him, she cannot be described as sharing in the act of redemption.

The statement ends decades of debate within the Catholic Church over whether Mary’s role in salvation history made her a co-redeemer alongside Christ.

“The title creates confusion and an imbalance in the harmony of Christian truth,” the decree reads. “It risks eclipsing the exclusive role of Jesus Christ as Redeemer.”

Past popes have been divided on the issue. Pope Francis and his predecessor, Benedict XVI, both opposed the title, with Francis once calling the idea “foolishness.” The late Pope John Paul II supported it early in his papacy but quietly stopped using it in the 1990s as skepticism grew.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who heads the doctrinal office, explained that the clarification was necessary due to an increase in “excessive Marian devotion” — particularly among groups promoting new devotions or reported apparitions on social media.

“The Vatican is putting the brakes on the cult of the Madonna,” noted Iacopo Scaramuzzi, a Vatican correspondent for La Repubblica.

The move follows the Vatican’s 2023 crackdown on unverified Marian apparitions and religious hoaxes, which had become more frequent in the age of social media. Pope Francis warned then that “Marian devotion is good, but when it becomes self-centered, it’s not.”

Vatican analyst Robert Mickens summed it up simply:

“Mary is the most exalted of all human creatures — but she’s not semi-divine.”