Editing Lumen gentium (section)

=== Chapter 8: The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the Mystery of Christ and the Church (52–69) ===
The chapter on [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] was the subject of debate. Original plans had called for a separate document about the role of Mary, keeping the document on the Church "[[Ecumenism|ecumenical]]," in the sense of "non-offensive" to Protestant Christians, who viewed special veneration of Mary with suspicion. However, the Council Fathers insisted, with the support of the Pope, that, as Mary's place is within the Church, treatment of her should appear within the Constitution on the Church.<ref name="excerptsofinri">{{cite web|url=http://catholic-history.excerptsofinri.com/chapter18.html|title=Chapter 18 Vatican Council II and the Church in the Modern World - Paperback Book - Author Fr. Robert J. Fox|last=excerptsofinri|website=catholic-history.excerptsofinri.com|access-date=2009-04-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303095356/http://catholic-history.excerptsofinri.com/chapter18.html|archive-date=2018-03-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Vatican II was sensitive to the views of other Christians, as the council, at the request of Pope John XXIII, hoped to promote Christian unity, but knew there are different concepts about Mary among other Christians, especially Protestants. The council in its one mention of Mary as "[[Mediatrix]]", spoke of her as strengthening – not lessening – confidence in Christ as the one essential Mediator. The council, in speaking of Mary, used a biblical approach, with strong emphasis on her pilgrimage of faith. They also drew heavily from the Fathers of the Church, which Christians of all denominations respect.

Pope Paul VI, in a speech to the council fathers, called the document "a vast synthesis of the Catholic doctrine regarding the place which the [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Blessed Mary]] occupies in the mystery of Christ and of the Church."<ref name="excerptsofinri"/>

Bishop [[Christopher Butler (bishop)|Christopher Butler]] mentions that prior to Vatican II the one area where Catholic theology was allowed to develop uncritically, apart from the total life of theology, was in devotion to Mary, so that "it began to seem that the Catholicism of the future would approximate more and more to the condition of an Italian tribal cult."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vatican2voice.org/3butlerwrites/aggiorna.htm|title=Aggiornamento of Vatican II}}</ref> This century-long drift was brought to an end by the Council on October 29, 1963, "a fixed point of the Marian paradigm shift," the date on which the Council decided, in a very close vote, to not give Mary a separate document but to situate her properly within the larger Church.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hprweb.com/2014/06/decoding-vatican-iis-marian-paradigm-shift |title = Decoding Vatican II's Marian Paradigm Shift |date = 26 June 2014}}</ref>

{{blockquote|[I]n the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she is without spot or wrinkle. (65)}}