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Questions / Mary and the saints

Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?

Church teaching

Answered on video by Dr. Brant Pitre

Video: Did Jesus Have Brothers? A Fresh Look at the Evidence | Brant Pitre, Catholic Productions, published Mar 1, 2016. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: Catholics read the “brothers and sisters” of Jesus as close relatives, not more children of Mary, who stayed ever-virgin. CCC 500

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

The Church has always understood the “brothers and sisters” of Jesus as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. CCC 500

James and Joseph, called “brothers of Jesus,” are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ. CCC 500

Our words

In Hebrew and Aramaic there was no separate word for cousin, so “brother” covered relatives. And at the cross Jesus entrusted His mother to John, which would be odd if she had other sons.

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Sources on this page

How we know · 1 Catechism paragraph
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 500 (official text on vatican.va).

Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words and cites every teaching claim. Our own wording is not an official Church text. Found a mistake? Report an errorCorrections.