169 507 At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: "the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother.

This title is directly linked to Mary as the Mother of God. Christ is described as the Head of the Church and followers are described as the Body of the Church. As Mary is the Mother of Christ ...

all human life has as its author the one God whose creative power produces the child in the mother’s womb and brings it step-by-step to full life. The Old Testament revelation, which the Church ...