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Conception (IMMACULATE in the Roman)

IMMACULATE, in the Roman Catholic Church, the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was born without the stain of original sin. This doctrine came into favor in the 12th century, when, however, it was opposed by St.

Bernard, and it afterward became a subject of vehement controversy between the Scotists, who supported, and the Thomists, who opposed it. In 1708 Clement XI. appointed a festival to be celebrated throughout the Church in honor of the immaculate conception. Since that time it was received in the Roman Church as an opinion, but not as an article of faith till 1854, when the Pope issued a bull which makes the immaculate conception a point of faith.