Does the Church teach that Saint Joseph's body was assumed into heaven like Mary's? I have heard from some Catholics that is was. For example, in this article. But I was just reading the Baltimore Catechism No. 3 and it says: "Our Divine Lord and His blessed Mother are the only persons whose bodies are now in heaven."  So which is right?

Arguments in favor of the Assumption of St Joseph

- St. Bernadine of Siena, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Leonard of Port Maurice all preached very strongly in support of the Assumption of St. Joseph. Suarez wrote that the Assumption of St. Joseph is a "sufficiently received belief."

- "God Himself seems to have authorized the belief by a striking miracle; for when St. Bernardine of Siena, preaching in Padua, declared that the body and soul of Joseph were both glorified in Heaven, a rich cross of gold was seen to shine over the head of the preacher, proving to the very eyes of those who surrounded him the truth which he was conveying to their ears."

- "Had this venerable body been left on earth, God would never have allowed it to remain concealed, and thus to be deprived of the honour given to the relics of saints much inferior to him. Ecclesiastical history frequently alludes to miracles which it pleased the Lord to work in order to the discovery of the precious remains of many of His servants, that men might render them due veneration, transport them to their churches, place them under their altars, and honour them with religious cultus.  But of Joseph nothing remains save the ring he placed on Mary's finger on the day of their espousals, for the possession of which two cities have contended, and a few fragments of his garments, to which pious homage is still paid."

-"...And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, came into the Holy City and appeared to many." (St. Matt. 27:52,53). "It is of faith that many bodies of the saints arose with the Incarnate Word, and that they appeared to numbers of persons in Jerusalem, giving them undoubted proofs that they were truly risen. Moreover, it is the opinion of St. Thomas and of well-nigh all the Doctors that these saints were not subject to death any more, but, after having for some time communicated on earth with the disciples of the Son of God, they, when the forty days were expired, followed Him in His Ascension to render His entrance into Heaven still more brilliant and glorious."

- America's greatest theologian, Fr. Feeney, wrote the following defense of the Assumption of St. Joseph in Bread of Life: "How do we know, in loving Christian faith, that Saint Joseph's body is in Heaven? Well, because he and Jesus and Mary make up the Holy Family. Just imagine the Holy Family in Heaven, with one body missing! When we pray for a happy death, we pray to Jesus, Mary and Joseph to be with us in our last agony. Just imagine you and I having bodies in our last agony, and Mary and Jesus having bodies and being able to be with us, and Saint Joseph alone left in the order of sheer soul!"

Arguments against the Assumption of St. Joseph

- The Baltimore Catechism, written by bishops under the influence of James Cardinal Gibbons, a man who was known to "preach" in Masonic temples using Protestant Bibles and who was known to steadfastly oppose any papal condemnations of American Masonry, appears to teach against it.

Just imagine you and I having bodies in our last agony, and Mary and Jesus having bodies and being able to be with us, and Saint Joseph alone left in the order of sheer soul!"

Whenever Jesus, Mary and Joseph or any saint appear to us on earth they appear to have bodies, including the saints who were NOT assumed. This is so we can identify them.
At our last agony if they appear, it may seem to us they have bodies but no one else in the room will see them in the flesh.

It is reasonable that Jesus and Mary were assumed bodily into heaven because both were born without original sin therefore not condemned to die and have their bodies return to the earth.

Does anyone know of any saint born with original sin who was assumed into heaven?

Who is the greater authority, St. Francis de Sales or Cardinal Gibbons and other American(ist) clergy?

. . . I would not say that this omission makes the Catechism "suspect," but I do think that it is worth attempting to understand the critique Fr. Wathen wrote in Who Shall Ascend.

Good question. I don't know what has greater weight, the opinion of a great saint or an official Catechism approved of by the Church and used to teach the faith to millions of Catholics. And about Who Shall Ascend, I read it years ago but I forgot everything about it. I may read it again now that you reminded me of it.

Quote from: MarylandTrad

Just imagine you and I having bodies in our last agony, and Mary and Jesus having bodies and being able to be with us, and Saint Joseph alone left in the order of sheer soul!"

Whenever Jesus, Mary and Joseph or any saint appear to us on earth they appear to have bodies, including the saints who were NOT assumed. This is so we can identify them.
At our last agony if they appear, it may seem to us they have bodies but no one else in the room will see them in the flesh.

It is reasonable that Jesus and Mary were assumed bodily into heaven because both were born without original sin therefore not condemned to die and have their bodies return to the earth.

Does anyone know of any saint born with original sin who was assumed into heaven?

According to Venerable Mary of Agreda's City of God, Vol 3, Ch 16, St. Joseph, like St. John the Baptist, was born without Original Sin.......St. Joseph "was sanctified in the womb of his mother seven months after his conception, and the leaven of sin was destroyed in him for the whole course of his life, never having felt any impure or disorderly movement."

According to the City of God, St. Joseph died and went to Limbo, there is no mention of him being assumed into heaven body and soul.

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Does anyone know of any saint born with original sin who was assumed into heaven?

Saint Elijah

Enoch