St Joseph

On the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of St Joseph being proclaimed as Patron of the Catholic Church (8 December 1870), Pope Francis is inviting the whole Church to reflect on this ‘extraordinary figure’ who serves as an example of daily patience, hope and responsibility.

In his document, Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart), Pope Francis reminds us that ‘each of us can discover in St Joseph - the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence - an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble.’ Jesus’s earthly father reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation.

After Mary, the Mother of God, no saint is mentioned more frequently in the papal magisterium than Joseph, her spouse. Various popes have reflected on the message contained in the limited information handed down by the Gospels in order to appreciate more fully Joseph’s central role in the history of salvation. Blessed Pius IX declared him ‘Patron of the Catholic Church’, Venerable Pius XII proposed him as ‘Patron of Workers’ and St John Paul II as ‘Guardian of the Redeemer’. St Joseph is universally invoked as the ‘patron of a happy death’.