Expert: Sal - 4/9/2005

Question
Hi Sal,

I've heard Protestants say that for the Blessed Virgin Mary to be sinless, her mother had to be sinless, her grandmother, and so on.  To me this implies that God couldn't make her without sin because her mother, grandmother, etc. were not without sin.  I understood only God cannot co-exist without sin, but is there an argument I'm not aware of that better clarifies why it wasn't necessary for Mary's mother and those before her to be without sin?

Thank you.

Answer
Dear Les:

It is the Protestant misunderstanding that makes them make such a statement. They would be right if Mary had to be conceived without original sin WITHOUT the intervention of God. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception very clearly states that Mary's parents had original sin, but God supernaturally intervened to protect Mary from contracting the stain of original sin. Therefore, it does not matter that her ancestors did have original sin.

Have a great day,
Sal