The validity of the Catholic Church depends on one important question: were Mary Magdalene and Jesus married? A famous movie, the Da Vinci Code, provides evidence that proves this truth is fundamentally correct. The plotline is based on a renowned painting by Da Vinci in which Mary Magdalene is seated at The Last Supper. She is sitting the closest to Jesus, which makes her seated higher than even Peter. When I first watched the movie, I was intrigued about this complex truth that if unraveled, could shake the most populated religion in the world, to its very core.
The first reason proving that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married comes from the Gospel of Philip. According to an article from TIME, in the Gospel of Philip, Mary Magdalene is referred to as Jesus’ koinonos, which is a Greek term for partner or companion. During Jesus’ time, people referred to their spouses as partners. Mary Magdalene was also depicted as being Jesus’ most faithful apostle, and during an interaction between Mary and Peter, the scripture portrays the jealousy that Peter and the other apostles felt for Mary since she was the closest to Jesus. Mary Magdalene had a spiritual connection with Jesus that was far greater than any of the other apostles. Koinonos more specifically means spiritual companion, and it has a far deeper meaning than its english translations. Peter attested to Mary having the strongest spiritual and physical relationship with Jesus. After the death of Jesus, she reassured the other apostles and told them that Jesus was still within them.
Non-believers of this truth may be justifying that Mary Magdalene could not have married Jesus, as she was sinful. Many Catholics paint Mary Magdalene as an indecent worker who committed atrocious sins, because the Catholic Church deemed her that way. But, in 1969, the Catholic Church acknowledged that they made a mistake when referring to Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene being Jesus’ wife opens a lot of opportunities for women in the Catholic Church. Because of this fact, whether Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife has introduced a compelling argument about women being ordained as priests.
When reading the Bible, it skips over about thirty years of Jesus’ existence! From when he is eight days old, and a brief story when he is twelve, we do not know anything about his life until his thirties, when he begins preaching his religious mission. It was expected for a Jewish man to have a wife and produce children in his twenties, but we do not learn about anything in the Bible. Our unawareness opens the door for so many possibilities that Jesus in fact had a wife, based on the Gnostic Gospels.
The biggest reason why non-believers might be against this truth is because we are discussing Jesus. How could Jesus have gotten married? Catholics believe he is God, and God cannot have a wife or produce children! The global empire the Vatican has built, was on the basis of Jesus being God, and if this truth were to be worldly true, our society would never be the same.
Rifaa Meghani
Saint Ignatius College Prep – DMSF Class of 2026
Image by Sr. Maria-Magdalena R. from Pixabay