Pope Pius 12 Declares Mary's Assumption a Dogma

(this subject includes three e-mails: 3 - 4 - 5)

by Raymond Fontaine, Ph.D. - July 2005

E-mail no.3: My View on this Issue.

    Greetings, your holiness, on this glorious morning. In your first e-mail to me, you mentioned having read my autobiography. In it, as you may recall, I wrote fifteen pages on the subject of our discussion today. At that time, you may have confided your thoughts on this matter to Pope John Paul 2 but not to me. Today, however, you seem ready to speak your mind on this matter via an e-mail to me composed in a dream.

   Today I would like to discuss the question of papal infallibility and that of Mary's Assumption. Both doctrines are intertwined, the truth of each one depends on the truth of the other. 

   As regards the first, for centuries the Catholic Church considered itself infallible whenever its bishops met in ecumenical councils and, with the approval of the Pope, declared dogmas of the Church. But these councils, involving hundreds of bishops from around the world, were time-consuming and therefore rare occasions.

   For more rapid response to the day's problems, the ecumenical council, called Vatican 1, met in 1870 and declared the infallibility of the Bishop of Rome. By himself, the Pope, acting in the name of the Church, can declare without fear of error a doctrine of the Church.

   Eighty years later in 1950, Pope Pius 12 took advantage of his guaranteed personal infallibility to resolve the haunting question regarding Mary's Assumption into heaven. In the year 625, an obscure Bishop, called Theoteknos, wrote about celebrations on the feast of the Assumption. Gradually, these celebrations honoring Mary's Assumption spread in many places. But there was no Biblical basis and no early tradition to substantiate the fact of that reputed glorious event. The official Church in Rome remained silent until November 1, 1950.

    On that day, Pope Pius 12 decided to dispel all doubts about Mary's Assumption. He declared it a dogma of the Church. He said, "We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma, that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory."

    If the Pope was infallible, Mary was indeed in heaven. If she wasn't, then the Pope was not infallible. Each dogma supported the other. They stood or fell together.

    By 1950, after five years of priestly ministry, I had begun to doubt the Church's teaching authority. The deterioration of my faith continued until totally collapsing in 1967. In that year, I left the Church and the priesthood - no longer believing in the Pope's infallibility nor in Mary's assumption. 

    Evidently Your Holiness still believes in those dogmas. How else could you have accepted the papacy? How can you endorse, promote and enforce what seems to me totally unsubstantiated? To do this, you must have a reason - a solid one. Please share it with me. I would gladly believe in Mary's Assumption and in your infallibility but only if they are the truth. Adios. Ray. 

E-mail no. 4: Pope Benedict 16's View

    Thank you, Ray, for your e-mail about the Pope's infallibility and Mary's assumption into heaven. For our first colloquy you chose a touchy dual subject. But if we can navigate through this rough issue, we should enjoy smooth sailing the rest of the way.

    As you say, Pope Pius 12 declared Mary's Assumption a dogma of the Church in 1950. The truth of this event did not depend on the Bible nor on the early tradition of the Church. It simply needed the infallible declaration of Pope Pius 12. When that happened, I no longer had any reason to doubt Mary's Assumption. 

    I wish you could come around and believe again. In the not too distant future, I'd like to meet you in heaven. Together we could join Pope Pius 12 and Mary near the throne of God. Adios. From your friend, Benedict. 

           E-mail no. 5: A Postscript to my E-mail no.3

    Thanks, Your Holiness, for the quick response to my e-mail no.3 regarding Mary's Assumption. I wish that I could share your rosy assessment of Mary's ascent into heaven. But my reason cannot accept Pope Pius 12's declaration of that reputed glorious event. Let me tell you why.

    You and I agree that Mary's Assumption cannot be known by any evidence in nature nor in true history. As you say, it had to be revealed by God and then handed down without error generation after generation during 2,000 years. 

    The truth of Mary's assumption was guaranteed, you say, by the solemn declaration of Pope Pius 12 in 1950, because he was infallible in that instance.

    If I should ask you, " Why or how was Pope Pius 12 infallible? Who told you that?", you would surely reply that in 1870 the ecumenical council Vatican 1 declared that the Pope, acting alone and not surrounded by bishops, can define a truth as divinely revealed.

    So the certainty of Pope Pius 12's infallibility depended on the infallibility of Vatican Council I. But, I would ask, who guaranteed the infallibility of the bishops gathered in Vatican I ? And you would reply that bishops gathered in earlier ecumenical councils passed that dogma down century after century. 

    My next question to you would be on what basis or where and when was that truth revealed by God? You would undoubtedly answer that the infallibility of the Church was revealed in the Bible by Jesus Himself. You would then direct me to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 16, verses 17 -18 which read as follows: "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." This text, as you well know, appears only in Matthew's gospel which, moreover, is not the original text but a later edition that appeared at the end of the first century. The whole doctrine of the infallibility of the Church and all its Popes hangs on this brief quote. For me it is too thin and fragile to hold up the rigid unbreakable infallibility of the Church. But it suffices for you. Without it, your self-assurance and authority for the faithful would be greatly diminished. In your shoes, I would undoubtedly act like you for the sake of the people. 

    Despite our difference of opinion in today's discussion, I hope we can continue our exchange of views. I appreciate your e-mails and your candor and modesty. You are a true friend. Farewell for now. Ray. For the head of this section, check here.