CWR: Fatima to Vatican II: Mary, ‘Mother of the Church’ and Our Loving Mother by Matthew Tsakanikas, STD
Called to be the God-bearer, Mother to the Head of the Church, Mary was commissioned and called implicitly to be mother of every member born of the virginal womb of the Church in baptism.
Who among the Fathers of the Church called the Theotokos the "Mother of the Church," other than St. Ambrose? If Mary is the Mother of the Church, who is the Father? God the Father, presumably.
Is it better to understand this title primarily as referring to her spiritual maternity of all Christians, rather than anything ontological? The essay and others have attempted to link the two, but would a confusion of the meanings of the word "mother" result? Mother is not used univocally, as it is used of a human mother with reference to her children. And was it prudent or right for Paul VI to declare this title without consulting the separated apostolic churches?
