"Heilige Familie unter dem Portikus", 1818 Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow (1788 - 1862) Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Detail for a larger original - Saint Joseph or Yosef, Ioseph is presented in the Gospels as the spouse of Saint Mary and the "legal" father or Jesus Christ - the historic accounts are discrepant from those in the "Gospel" - the Popes declared Saint Joseph to be the protector of the Latin or Roman Catholic Church. However, regarding Joseph there are views that are "canonical" or "apocryphal" (canonical implies "right" and apocryphal implies "false" as declared by church "authorities"). Apocryphal views of Joseph present him as "the Carpenter" who was previously married and engendered James, Jude and Simon and at least two daughters. Joseph is only mentioned in the gospels by Matthew and Luke. The oldest extant Christian writings are the epistles by Paul where the mother of Jesus remains unnamed. The next oldest is the Book of Mark where Joseph is not mentioned either. In traditional terms, Saint Mary is presented as a widow. The notion that Joseph was a carpenter is also unclear - it arises from the translation of "tekton" (as in technology or technical), and he could have been an artisan working with wood or other materials. Early Christian traditions give rise to a variety of current interpretations. The dogma (canonical view) is that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus and that Joseph was not his father. However, Saint Paul referred to James as the brother of Jesus. Furthermore, Saint John and Saint Mark called Jesus as "Joseph's son" or "the carperter's son". Thereafter, the "discussions" were included in "Church Councils" and other complexities often incorporating references to "dreams, visions and miracles". Those who disagreed with the authorities running the Councils sooner or later were declared to be heretics (disserters, apostate, deserters, traitors defectors ...). In 1962, Pope John XXII added the name of Joseph in the Canon of the Mass and in 2013, Pope Francis added John's name to Eucharistic Prayers.