Vatican II on Mary: The Case for the definition of the Spiritual Motherhood of Mary

About the Book

The purpose of this study is to show that the formal definition of the spiritual Motherhood of Mary would constitute a doctrinal development from Vatican II’s teaching on Mary. It is my strong view that Mary’s spiritual motherhood should be explicitly acknowledged, accepted and stamped with the extra-ordinary infallibility of the Church magisterium so that it would become a dogma of the Church, as the sensus fidelium. Such formal definition would give the doctrine the seal of juridical authenticity and prevent it from denigration and rejection in future. This study argues that the Catholic Church needs to advance forwards from the Marian teaching of Vatican II by making concerted efforts to maintain the Marian trajectory in the Church. Also portrayed are the efforts of the papal magisterium and some noted Catholic theologians that have gone back to the sources of the early Fathers of the Church in order to teach that Mary’s spiritual Motherhood has solid foundation on Scripture and the Church’s tradition. The post-conciliar teachings of the above-stated papal magisterium and contemporary theologians have the aim to nurture and sustain the faith and understanding of the people of God about Mary’s spiritual Motherhood. The study also examines evidence to show that there is much in the Catholic Marian theology that could improve understanding among Christians of different denominations. In particular, it portrays the fact that Mariology always points to Christ, being indissolubly linked with Christology, and also has intrinsic unity with ecclesiology.

About the Author

I was born on 30 January 1939 at Aba in Eastern Nigeria. I have been happily married for 45 years to Josephine Ofie Egbuonu (nee Ukpo), and we live together in Bristol, United Kingdom. We have five grown-up children and seven lovely grand-children. I am an active member of St. Mary-on-the-Quay Catholic Church Bristol, wherein I am a Lay-reader and a Catechist. My interest in Christian Theology was kindled in 2004 through a poster from Wesley College Bristol (affiliated to the University of Bristol) inviting applications from people interested in Christian Religious Studies. On verifying the authenticity of Wesley College as a designated ecumenical centre for Christian religious studies, I successfully enrolled therein, in 2004. What for me started as occasional studies soon grew into a full B.A, degree course in Theological Studies. At the end of my second year (in 2006), I was up-graded to commence the M.A. course in Theology and Ministry, which I completed successfully with distinction in 2008. Thence, I was admitted by the University for an M. Litt degree in April 2009. My M.A. dissertation had explored the relationship between Scripture and Tradition in the Documents of Vatican II’s, Lumen Gentium and Dei Verbum. I have not always been a Roman Catholic Christian having begun my early life, first, as an Evangelical (C.M.S.) Anglican; then as a Methodist. Although I was married in the Roman Catholic Church, I was received into the Catholic Church only in 1981. I became a convinced Catholic through my active participation in preparing my children for the Sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation, and by attending Mass regularly with them every Sunday. The methodology of my postgraduate studies involves intensive qualitative research programmes and techniques, which I had cultivated, firstly, as Pfizer’s Pharmaceutical Marketing Manager (in Nigeria) where I had conducted several prospective marketing research programmes, and secondly, during my M. A. Degree course. My earlier professional life and work experience was in Pharmacy, a profession I had practised for almost forty years before I came to Great Britain. Since I retired from Boots Limited in 2009, I have been fully engaged in postgraduate research studies leading to the successful defence of my M. Litt thesis and the writing of three books on the socio- political situation in Africa, and Nigeria, in particular. These are titled: The Nigerian – An African Statesman Unfulfilled; How to Transform Nigeria into a Fulfilled African Nation; and A letter to Ndi-Igbo: Needed, edifying and crucial Attributes.