Catholic Mariology
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Catholic Mariology is the systematic study of the person of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and of her place in the Economy of Salvation in Catholic theology. According to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception taught by the Catholic Church, Mary was conceived and born without the stain of original sin from the sin of Adam and Eve, meaning she was saved by God in the moment of her conception, and she is also known as the "New Eve", hence she is seen as having a singular dignity above the saints, receiving a higher level of veneration than all angelic spirits and blessed souls in heaven. Catholic Mariology thus studies not only her life but also the veneration of her in daily life, prayer, hymns, art, music, and architecture in modern and ancient Christianity throughout the ages.
The four Marian dogmas of Mary's Divine Motherhood or being the Mother of God also known as the Theotokos (Θεοτόκος) in Greek, Her Immaculate Conception (having no stain of original sin), Her Perpetual Virginity, and the Assumption of Mary into Heaven form the basis of Mariology. However, a number of other Catholic doctrines about the Virgin Mary have been developed by reference to Sacred Scripture, theological reasoning and church tradition. The development of Mariology is ongoing and since the beginnings it has continued to be shaped by theological analyses, writings of saints, and papal statements, e.g. while all four of the dogmas are ancient in their origin, two were not defined until the 19th and 20th centuries; and papal teachings on Mary have continued to appear in recent times.
In parallel to the traditional views, since the late 19th century, as Marian devotion became more pronounced in the Catholic Church, a number of other perspectives have been presented as a challenge to Catholic Mariology. Some other Christian views see Catholic Mariology as unbiblical and a denial of the uniqueness of Christ as redeemer and mediator, and some modern psychological interpretations see Mary as similar to polytheistic goddesses ranging from Diana to Guan Yin. Nonetheless, Christians in the Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Independent Sacramental Movement, Anglo-Catholicism, and other High church Protestants continue to revere Mary as the greatest saint.