The answer
According to their genealogies, both St. Mary and St. Joseph were descendants of David the prophet and both of them had ancestry in Bethlehem. We can also draw inferences from the Holy Scripture. St. Joseph was compelled to register in Bethlehem for the census. Bethlehem is in Judea. When St. Mary went to visit St. Elizabeth her cousin, she went to a hill country in Judea. Thus, St. Mary and St. Joseph were not first or second cousins but were distant relatives from David’s descendants. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ has the legal, royal, and priestly rights through both parents.Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)