Immaculate Conception, << ih MAK yuh liht kuhn SEHP shuhn, >> is a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. It means that the Virgin Mary, to be pure enough to become the mother of Jesus Christ, was created free from original sin. Her soul was made in the purest holiness and innocence. Pope Pius IX formally defined the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, 1854.
The term is often confused among non-Catholics with the virgin birth. But the virgin birth has no connection with the Immaculate Conception. Mary had two human parents. The virgin birth is the belief, recorded in the Bible in Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-38, that Jesus Christ was created by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. She had asked the angel Gabriel how she, a virgin, could become the mother of the promised Messiah. She was told that this birth would occur by the power of God (Luke 1:34-38).
