(Christian News Network) Roman Catholic leader Jorge Bergoglio, also known as “Pope Francis,” has decreed that a new feast day be added to the liturgical calendar to honor Mary, called “Mother of the Church.” The announcement has been deemed unbiblical as the Catholic Church continues to place inordinate emphasis on Mary.
The Vatican announced the decree on Saturday, noting that the new Roman Catholic holiday will be observed every year on the Monday after Pentecost. This year, the occasion will fall on May 21.
“Having attentively considered how greatly the promotion of this devotion might encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety, Pope Francis has decreed that the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on the Monday after Pentecost and be now celebrated every year,” reads the decree, signed by Robert Sarah, prefect, and Arthur Roche, archbishop.
“This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the mystery of the cross, to the oblation of Christ in the eucharistic banquet and to the mother of the Redeemer and mother of the redeemed, the virgin who makes her offering to God,” it states.
The decree outlines that historic Roman Catholic figures—from Augustine to Paul VI—have endowed Mary with various titles, and claims that as Jesus asked his disciple, John, to look after His earthly mother in His physical absence, it signified that Mary was to be a subject of affection for all of Christ’s followers.
“Indeed, the mother standing beneath the cross (Jn. 19:25), accepted her Son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal. She thus became the tender mother of the Church which Christ begot on the cross handing on the Spirit,” the decree asserts. “Christ, in turn, in the beloved disciple, chose all disciples as ministers of his love towards His mother, entrusting her to them so that they might welcome her with filial affection.”