Perpetual Virginity
The teaching that Mary was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Jesus, and had no other children; “Ever-Virgin” in the liturgy.
The Church has always confessed Mary as Aeiparthenos, “ever-virgin”: a virgin in conceiving Jesus, in giving birth to him, and for the rest of her life. The “brothers of the Lord” named in the Gospels are not children of Mary, and the Catechism notes that two of them are elsewhere identified as sons of another Mary. Her virginity is a sign of her undivided gift of herself to God and of the Church, which is both virgin and mother.
Councils
Where the Church settled or debated this. Follow a council to read our article on it, or the decrees themselves.
- 553Second Council of Constantinoplethe decrees
- 649Lateran Council of 649Acts 15
Sources checked 29 September 2026