En pneumatologisk mariologi – en konstruktiv läsning av St. Maximilian Kolbe

Sammanfattning

In this dissertation I explore the mariological writings of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Thoughthe saint’s mariology is one which has been extensively analyzed and expounded upon by a widearray of theologians especially coming out of the Franciscan tradition of which Kolbe himself waspart, it has rarely been theologically examined outside of a Roman Catholic dogmatic perspective,something I here aim to remedy by adapting the saint’s writings to newer and perhaps unorthodoxmeans of approaching mariology. This latter approach comprises what I term a femininepneumatological mariology. With consideration to prior theological research as well as my ownanalysis of what can be said to constitute the most recurring elements of Kolbe’s mariology, I findthat the Holy Spirit is often intimately related to the person of the Virgin Mary, in part owing to theCatholic dogma of the immaculate conception, leading to Mary being referred to as an icon of theSpirit. Moreover, Kolbe’s mariological writings also lean on upholding the figure of Mary as animage of the divine feminine. However, it would seem that this role of Mary is one partly takenover by her from the Spirit, who was often conceived of as an image of the divine feminine in earlyChristianity. I thus seek to relate Kolbe’s studies of the feminine Mary to a feminine conception ofthe Spirit, which I call a feminine pneumatology, arguing that Kolbe’s mariology is one in whichthe Holy Spirit can be classified as a representative of the feminine aspect of God. If the VirginMary is indeed to be read as an image of the divine feminine, and her person as a mirror or icon ofthe Holy Spirit, then it seems reasonable to argue that there exists an implicit femininepneumatology in Kolbe’s mariology.