A day after the solemnity of the assumption was celebrated, there are those who wonder if the Virgin Mary died or was alive before being taken to heaven. The famous Spanish theologian José Antonio Fortea has responded to this concern.
Pope Pius XII and the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Receive the main news of ACI Press by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social networks. Subscribe to our free channels today:
With the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus (“Benevol Dios”), Pope Pius XII defined from the chair The dogma of the Assumption of Santa María.
In that document, the Pope said that “the immaculate mother of God, always Virgin Mary, Fulfilled the course of his earthly life, he was assumed body and soul to the celestial glory”.
“If anyone, what God does not want to deny or voluntarily questioning what has been defined for us, knows that he has fallen from divine and Catholic faith,” he added.
However, the pontifical document does not specify whether Santa María died or not.
In statements for ACI Prensa, Father Fortea explains that ambiguity in the Apostolic Constitution “was no accident, was expressly dear.”
Traditions on the end of the days of the Virgin Mary
The Spanish priest, a doctor of theology, recalled that in the history of the Church “there were fundamentally two traditions” with respect to the end of the days of Santa María on Earth.
On the one hand, he points out, the oriental Christians “talked about the virgin’s sleeping. In the West there was not so much tradition at the beginning. Some claimed that the sleeping had occurred. Others did not say that they had died.”
The dogma of faith is only the assumption
“As there was no unanimity in that field and what they express is faith,” he says, in the end “it was chosen to leave it ambiguously.”
“The Church has not opposed those who said one thing or those who said anotherwithout ever to elucidate the matter, ”he emphasizes.
Pope Pius XII, before the theological dispute, “says Father Fortea,” “chose to use an ambiguous term.”
Originally published on August 14, 2018. It has been updated for republication.
David Ramos
Graduate in Communication Sciences by the Private University of the North in Trujillo, Peru. With more than 12 years of experience in Catholic journalism working in ACI Press, I am based in Mexico since 2018. I have covered the trips of Pope Francis to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Panama.
togeltogel hari initogel hongkong