Redemptoris Mater
| Redemptoris mater Latin : Mother of the Redeemer Encyclical letter of Pope John Paul II |
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| Date | 25 March 1987 |
| Argument | The Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life of the Pilgrim Church |
| Pages | 95 |
| Encyclical number | 6 of 14 of the pontificate |
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Redemptoris Mater (Latin: Mother of the Redeemer) is the title of a Mariological encyclical by Pope John Paul II, delivered on March 25, 1987 in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
This encyclical is subtitled On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church and deals with a number of issues in Mariology. It is a somewhat detailed encyclical with three main parts, as well as an introductory section and a conclusions section.
The encyclical starts by discussing the special place of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the plan of salvation and continues to focus on Mary's role in the Mystery of Christ in Part I of the encyclical.
Part II discusses Mary's role as the Mother of God at the centre of the Pilgrim Church. This is built on later in Part III where Pope John Paul II confirmed the title, Mother of the Church, proclaimed by Pope Paul VI at the Second Vatican Council on November 21, 1964. This encyclical states:
Part III also deals with Maternal Mediation and the role of the Virgin Mary as a Mediatrix. The pontiff said:
This encyclical reflects the influence of Saint Louis de Montfort's Marian teachings on Pope John Paul II. The pontiff singled out Saint Louis (who also inspired the pontiff's moto Totus Tuus) in this encyclical, saying that:
The seeds of this encyclical may be traced to the statement by Pope John Paul II that as a young seminarian he "read and reread many times and with great spiritual profit" a work of Saint Louis de Montfort and that:
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