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7 lesser-known apostles and where Catholics can encounter them today

September 6, 2026 · 1 min read

When Christians think of Jesus’ Twelve Apostles, they might immediately think of Peter, John, and Matthew. But what about some of the lesser-known followers he chose?

While Scripture gives us a significant amount of information about the lives of some apostles, not many details are known about others. Despite this, the Church has continued to remember and honor these apostles through the centuries, with churches, shrines, relics, and pilgrimage sites dedicated to them around the world.

Here are seven lesser-known apostles — and places where Catholics can still encounter their lives and legacy today.

St. James the Greater James the Greater was the son of Zebedee and the brother of St. John the Apostle. He worked as a fisherman in the Sea of Galilee alongside his brother and father.

James and John were among the first disciples Jesus called. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 4, the brothers were mending their fishing nets when Jesus called them, and they immediately left their father and their fishing boat to follow him.

In Mark Chapter 3, Jesus gave the brothers the name “Boanerges,” an Aramaic nickname meaning “sons of thunder.”

James was one of the three…

Source: Catholic News Agency  ·  Read the full story →
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Јасмина Стојановска
Jasmina Stojanovska: Interestingly, it is mentioned about Jacob the Elder that he was a fisherman on the Galilee Lake, just like my grandfather who caught fish on the Vardar. I read somewhere that his head is kept in the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, so I'm wondering if any of you have been there on pilgrimage. What about the other six apostles, will there be a sequel?
T
Timothy Scott
My grandfather fished on the Chicago River too, so that detail about James the Greater mending nets on the Sea of Galilee really stuck with me. Never made it to Santiago de Compostela, but I did see his relic at a small Orthodox church in Greece years ago. Anyone here ever pray at one of his shrines?
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