Remembering Cardinal Mercier (1851–1926): Thomist, Ecumenist, and Mariologist

This year marks the centenary of the death of Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier of Belgium, who died on January 23, 1926.

Priest, Archbishop, Cardinal

Born in 1851 in the French-speaking region of Brabant, Belgium, Mercier entered the diocesan seminary in 1868 and was ordained a priest in 1874. After higher studies at the Catholic University of Louvain, he began teaching philosophy at the minor seminary in Malines in 1877. Pope Leo XIII’s 1879 encyclical, Aeterni Patris, provided papal support for the revival of Thomism, and in 1882 Mercier was appointed a professor of Thomistic philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain. With the support of Leo XIII, Mercier established the Institut Supérieur de Philosophie at Louvain, and in 1894, he inaugurated the journal, Revue Néo-scolastique, which sought to relate scholastic philosophy to modern science and thought. Mercier was an important figure in the Neo-Thomist revival, and he authored books in metaphysics, logic, psychology, and epistemology.

In 1906, Pius X appointed Mercier as the archbishop of Malines (Mechelen in Flemish), Belgium. By this appointment, he became the primate of Belgium and the shepherd of some 2.3 million Catholics and 3,000 priests. In terms of numbers, the Archdiocese of Malines was at that time the second largest in the world after Milan.

In 1907, Mercier was made a cardinal, and he soon joined Pius X in resisting Catholic Modernism. Even though Mercier opposed the Modernists, he was open to dialogue with thinkers accused of Modernism, such as Maurice Blondel and Marie-Joseph Lagrange, O.P. He also reached out to the modernist and suspended Jesuit priest, George Tyrrell. Mercier invited Tyrrell into his archdiocese on the condition that he was willing to submit all his writings for review and approval. Tyrrell rejected this condition, and he criticized the Belgian cardinal as a representative of outdated “ultramontane” views that suppress theological discussion.

During World War I, Mercier resisted the German occupation of Belgium and was eventually placed under house arrest. His 1914 Christmas pastoral letter, Patriotisme et Endurance, was received with enthusiasm not only in Belgium but also in the USA, England, France, and other countries. The German bishops were not pleased, and they accused Mercier of violating the Vatican’s position of neutrality. Benedict XV, however, admired Mercier, and he supported the liberation of Belgium as a condition for peace. After the war, Mercier received multiple honors for his heroic resistance to German occupation. Regarded as “the Pope of the North,” he accepted invitations to lecture in France, Spain, Austria, England, the U.S., and Canada. He received honorary degrees from, inter alia, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and he took part in a 1919 victory parade in New York along with King Albert of Belgium.

Mercier is also remembered for his encouragement of the ecumenical discussions with the Anglicans known as the Malines Conversations. Supported by Lord Halifax of England, these theological discussions took place in Cardinal Mercier’s residence between 1921 and 1925. Although these conversations were friendly, agreements could not be reached on the meaning of papal primacy and other issues. Pope Benedict XV (r. 1914–1922) was aware of the Malines Conversations. He never criticized them, but he never gave them approval. Pius XI (r. 1922–1939) was also aware of these ecumenical discussions. Because of his admiration for Mercier, he waited until after the Cardinal’s death in 1926 to put an end to them. In his 1928 encyclical, Mortalium Animos, Pius XI reaffirmed the Catholic understanding of papal primacy and cautioned against ecumenical discussions that might relativize Catholic doctrine.

Cardinal Mercier’s Mariology

In the eyes of many, Cardinal Mercier is best remembered for his support for a papal definition of the Virgin Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces. Although he was always Marian, Mercier’s commitment to a dogmatic proclamation of Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces can be traced to his 1906 meeting with Mother Madeleine of Jesus (1862–1946), the superior of the Carmel in Uccle (near Brussels). Mother Madeleine told Archbishop Mercier that “the Divine Master” had revealed to her in prayer that He desired a dogmatic definition of Mary’s universal mediation of grace. At first, Mercier said he would think about this, but soon he became convinced that God was calling him to petition the pope to proclaim this dogma.

The belief in Mary as the universal Mediatrix of grace—with and under her divine Son—was not something new. Eastern Fathers of the Church such as St. Germanus of Constantinople (c. 635–733), St. Andrew of Crete (c. 660–740), and St. John of Damascus (c. 675–749) all supported Mary’s universal mediation of grace.¹ In the Middle Ages, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), St. Bonaventure (c. 1217/1221–1274), and St. Bernardine of Siena (1380–1444) affirmed Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces as did later Catholic authors such as St. Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621), Francisco Suárez (1548–1617), Maria of Ágreda (1602–1665), St. Louis de Montfort (1673–1716), and St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787).²

Prior to Mercier’s 1906 appointment as Archbishop of Malines, Mary’s universal mediation of grace had already received papal support from Benedict XIV (in 1748), Pius VII (in 1806), Pius IX (in 1849), Leo XIII (in 1891), and Pius X (in 1904).³ It was also affirmed by Cardinal Victor-Auguste Dechamps (1810–1883), the Archbishop of Malines, who ordained Mercier a priest in 1874.

Even though Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces had received papal support, it was not a defined dogma. Proposals for a dogmatic definition of Mary’s universal mediation of grace were made by René-Marie de La Briose, S.J. (in 1896) and François Xavier Godts, C.Ss.R. (in 1904). Because of his standing as a cardinal, Mercier’s appeals for the dogmatic definition had more significance. His work for this dogma began in 1906 and continued until his death in 1926.

There are three excellent books that detail Cardinal Mercier’s efforts for the dogma: Fr. Manfred Hauke, Mary, Mediatress of Grace (New Bedford, MA: Academy of the Immaculate, 2004); Gloria Falcão Dodd, The Mediatrix of All Grace: History and Theology of the Virgin Mary: Movement for a Dogmatic Definition from 1896 to 1964 (New Bedford, MA: Academy of the Immaculate, 2012); and Sr. Florence Coomans, Marie Médiatrice de Toutes Grậces Dans La Commission Pontificale Instituée par Pie XI (1922): Éclairages et perspectives théologiques (Lugano: Cantagalli EU Press FTL, 2025). These three books detail Mercier’s commitment to the new dogma, the obstacles he faced, and the partial success of his work.

Debate over dogmatic definition

In 1906, Mercier made an informal request to Pius X for the dogma. Pius X believed Mary was the Mediatrix of all graces, but he did not pursue a dogmatic definition—perhaps because of his preoccupation with Modernism and other matters. Mercier continued to promote Mary as the universal Mediatrix of grace, and others began to support the doctrine. In 1913, the Fourth Breton Marian Congress approved a petition to Pius X for a dogmatic definition of Mary’s motherhood of grace. In 1914, Mercier made a public vow to petition the pope for a feast in honor of Mary, the Mediatrix of all humanity. In 1915, he organized four petitions that were sent to Rome requesting a dogmatic definition of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces: one from the theological faculty of the Catholic University of Louvain; one from the religious superiors of Belgium; one from the bishops of Belgium; and another from the clergy of the Archdiocese of Malines.

Fr. Alberto Lepidi, O.P. (1838–1922), the Master of the Sacred Palace and consultor to the Holy Office, was asked to examine the four petitions and submit a judgment. In July 1916, he submitted a negative votum. He rejected the title Co-redemptrix, which was present in the petitions, on the basis of a 1747 rejection by the Holy Office of a petition by the bishop of Ascoli, Italy, to use the title in prayers for the Stations of the Cross. Fr. Lepidi seemed unaware that on July 18, 1885, Pope Leo XIII had approved some praises (laudes) to Jesus and Mary, which in the Italian version refer to Mary as corredentrice del mondo, “the Co-redemptrix of the world.” (Acta Sanctae Sedis [ASS] 18 [1885] p. 93). During the pontificate of Pius X, the Holy See three times gave approval to prayers invoking Mary as Co-redemptrix (cf. Acta Sanctae Sedis [ASS] 41 [1908], p. 409); Acta Apostolicae Sedis [AAS] 5 [1913], p. 364; AAS 6 [1914], pp. 108–109). The 1908 approval came from the Sacred Congregation of Rites. The ones from 1913 and 1914 were from the Holy Office with partial indulgences attached to the recitation of these prayers.

Fr. Lepidi also opposed calling Mary the Mediatrix of all graces. He considered this title to be “only a contrivance of the mind, lacking a solid theology.”⁴ It seems Fr. Lepidi was unaware of the support for Mary’s universal mediation of grace going back to Church fathers, medieval authors, and popes since Benedict XIV. In his 1806 apostolic constitution, Quod Divino afflata Spiritu, Pius VII explicitly refers to Mary as the “Dispensatrix of all graces” (gratiarum omnium dispensatricem),⁵ which is the equivalent of Mediatrix of all graces.”

Based on Fr. Lepidi’s assessment, the Holy Office decided against the Belgian petitions for the new dogma, and Benedict XV confirmed this decision on November 23, 1916. Cardinal Mercier did not let this negative decision deter his efforts. He decided to turn his attention to the approval of a feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. Benedict XV, who was sympathetic to Mercier’s Mariology, approved the feast on January 12, 1921, along with the office and texts. The feast would be celebrated on May 31, and it was available to all the dioceses of Belgium and any other bishops or religious communities that requested it. By the end of 1921, 38 bishops were given permission to celebrate the feast in their dioceses, as well as the Jesuits, the Marianists, the Belgian Redemptorists, and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The feast was eventually moved to May 8 in the 1962 liturgical calendar approved by John XXIII. It is still available as an optional feast for Catholic communities that follow that calendar.

After the death of Benedict XV on January 22, 1922, Mercier turned his attention to Pius XI, who became pope on February 6th of that year. Through contacts with friends in Rome, Mercier was able to persuade Pius XI to set up a papal commission to examine the definability of Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces. In December 1922, Pius XI agreed to set up this commission, which would meet in three places: Belgium, Spain, and Rome. By the end of 1923, the members of the Belgian, Spanish, and Roman commissions had been appointed, and their deliberations had begun.

The Belgian and Spanish commissions produced over 2,000 pages in support of the definability of the dogma, but the Holy See did not grant permission to publish these texts. In 1985, Fr. Giuseppe M. Besutti, O.S.M. published what seem to be summary reports of the Belgian and Spanish commissions.⁶ These reports manifest support for the definability of the proposed dogma. We only know the opinion of one member of the Roman commission: that of Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., who supported the definability of the dogma.⁷ It’s quite possible that the Roman commission was also in favor of the definability of the dogma,⁸ but we don’t know for sure. Apparently, the results of the three commissions were evaluated by a special ad hoc commission of the Holy Office, which ultimately decided against the definition.⁹ On the advice of this special commission, Pius XI did not define Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces. Nevertheless, he himself supported the title. In his 1932 encyclical, Caritate Christi Compulsi, he refers to the Virgin Mother of God, “the Mediatrix of all graces” (Virginis Deiparae, omnium gratiarum Mediatricis; AAS 24 (1932), p.192).

Death and legacy

Cardinal Mercier died in 1926 without succeeding in his efforts to have Mary defined as the Mediatrix of all graces. He was, though, successful in obtaining approval of the Office and Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Mediatrix of All Graces.” The approval of this Feast is acknowledged in footnote 46 of the November 4, 2025, document of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith [DDF] entitled Mater Populi Fidelis. Unfortunately, the DDF does not mention the three papal commissions set up by Pius XI to explore the possibility of defining the dogma of Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces. Mercier’s affirmation of Mary as the universal Mediatrix of all the graces obtained by her divine Son continued to enjoy papal support after his death. Pius XII referred to Mary as Mediatrix of all graces on multiple occasions.¹⁰ In the antepreparatory phase of Vatican II (1959–1961) there were 2,150 written opinions or vota from bishops expressing their wishes for the council.¹¹ A total of 482 vota of the bishops relate to Mary, and “nearly all of them pertain to doctrine.”¹² Of these, 380 express a desire for a definition of Mary’s universal mediation.¹³

Although Vatican II did not wish to define any new Marian dogmas, it allowed theologians to retain opinions on Mary that had not been fully clarified (see Lumen Gentium, 54). This, no doubt, was a reference to teachings on Mary as Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces. As is well known, John Paul II referred to Mary as Co-redemptrix on at least seven occasions,¹⁴ and he referred to Mary as the “Mediatrix of all graces” explicitly at least seven times and five other times with equivalent expressions.¹⁵ Both Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have also referred to Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces.¹⁶

Mercier’s desire for the definition did not die after Vatican II. In 1992, Cardinal Édouard Gagnon revealed to Dr. Mark Miravalle that he had personally forwarded petitions from Catholic bishops to John Paul II requesting a dogmatic definition of Mary as Co-redemptrix and/or Mediatrix of all graces. Cardinal Gagnon encouraged Dr. Miravalle to begin a movement that would revive Cardinal Mercier’s efforts for a papal dogmatic definition. This encouragement led to the creation of Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici (Voice of the People for Mary Mediatrix), which, by 1996, had gathered support from 800 bishops and 8 million other members of the faithful for a papal definition of Mary as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate. These petitions, like those of Cardinal Mercier, were taken seriously by the Holy See. As Mater Populi Fidelis, no 19 reveals, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal Ratzinger decided on Feb. 21, 1996, that the titles contained in the proposed dogma were not clear and the doctrine contained in them was not mature.

The life of Cardinal Mercier is instructive for us today. He was highly regarded as a Thomist philosopher and a Cardinal who stood up for his country during the German occupation of Belgium in World War I. His ecumenical efforts with the Anglicans failed, as did his petitions for a dogmatic definition of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces. These, though, were noble failures. In their own way, they contributed to further ecumenical and Mariological developments. Cardinal Mercier’s courage and persistence in the face of challenges and disappointments are cause for admiring and celebrating his life during the centenary of his death. Let us hope that this great “Pope of the North” is praying for us today.

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