Mary in Islam and Protestantism

In December 2003, the Blessed Mother graced the cover of 3 major Protestant magazines with total circulation of more than half a million.

They include The Lutheran – the official publication of the denomination that launched the 16th century Protestant rebellion against the Catholic Church – as well as Christianity Today, the magazine of record for evangelical Protestantism, and Good News, a publication for evangelical Methodists. The articles in all three magazines agree that Protestants have neglected Mary for too long, and that it is high time for Protestants to re-consider the place of Mary in Protestantism.

Indeed, more and more non-Catholics are beginning to find a place for Mary in their religions.

Numerous books on Mary have been written by Protestant scholars, many with the common exhortation for Protestants to take a closer look at Mary. Stories abound about Buddhists and other non-Catholics visiting the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, a traditionally-Catholic symbol of Marian devotion. Muslims, on the other hand, very much revere and respect Mary. In fact, Mary is mentioned more times in the Koran, Islam’s Holy Book, than in the Bible!

Mary is likewise a topic in many ecumenical discussions – scholarly discussions between Catholic theologians, Protestant scholars, Muslims, and other religions with the objective of unearthing more and more “common ground” among the religions. In June 2001, after returning from an interfaith conference held at Lourdes, Cardinal Francis Arinze, then president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, declared that Mary is a starting point for presenting the Christian message to believers of other religions. Participants of the conference included Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran representatives and theologians. “We must thank God for the positive connotations that Mary has for the other religions”, explained Cardinal Arinze.

What place does Mary have in other religions, particularly Islam and Protestantism? What place can she have in the future? Is there a chance, no matter how remote, of the various great religions uniting under the mantle of Mary?