A Dogma of Hope By Robert Stackpole, STD S eventy-five years ago, on November 1, 1950, Ven. Pope Pius XII proclaimed to the Church and the world: “By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, 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.” Within the Catholic Church, there was near unanimity among the Church’s bishops and theologians at the time in support of the definition of this dogma. Indeed, the pope had consulted extensively with them before deciding to make the proclamation. Outside the Church, however, widespread incomprehension, and in some circles even dismay, were the most common reactions. Protestants in particular objected that 75 years of the Assumption of Mary 16 Marian Helper • Fall 2025 • Marian.org Metropolitan Museum of Art/Open Access.
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