JACKSONVILLE Fla.-- Did Jesus have a wife? That's what one expert at Harvard is suggesting.
A 1.5-by-three-inch piece of papyrus dating back to the fourth century is what professor Karen King calls proof that Jesus may have been married.
King just announced her findings at a coptic studies conference in Rome. She says the text contains dialogue where Jesus refers to a woman named Mary as "my wife."
But Father Fred Parke at Assumption Catholic Church in Jacksonville is frustrated with King's findings and says he's skeptical. He told Action News that he thinks she's trying to push the concept of female priests.
"We have to connect the dots here," said Father Parke. "There's an agenda here, this whole idea of women's ordination."
Father Parke also told Action News the documents were first disregarded by the church all the way back in 393 A.D.
"Her documents are all these lost gospels which we rejected years ago," said Father Parke. "Centuries ago!"
While it's stirred up controversy in the Christian community, Father Parke says it won't impact Catholicism as we know it today.
"It's a lost gospel that's not inclusive it's material that has nothing to do with Matthew or Mark."
King is sticking to her story, but Assumption Catholic Church says it's a non-issue and the church is just going to continue on with its sermon on Sunday as usual.
