Not only do the gospels mention Jesus having had siblings, in at least one case, the sacred texts name names. As Christianity.com notes, several passages in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, 1 Corinthians, and Galatians mention Jesus’ siblings. Strictly by way of example, Matthew 12:46 mentions an incident where Jesus was speaking to a crowd, and “his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.” Similarly, Matthew 13 mentions brothers and sisters, and even name-checks his brothers: “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us?” the people asked rhetorically of Jesus.

However, if you’re Catholic, these mentions of Jesus’ siblings don’t actually mention his siblings. That’s because Catholic dogma holds that Jesus’ mother was perpetually a virgin, ruling out the possibility of her having given birth to other children. According to the question-and-answer column The Straight Dope, as far as Catholics are concerned, these passages actually refer to Jesus’ cousins or perhaps half-siblings of Jesus from a previous marriage of Joseph’s. This interpretation is considered “tortured” by the column’s writer.