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Pope's Coat of Arms Has Bavarian Elements
Pope Benedict XVI has included traditional Bavarian elements and a nod
to St. Augustine in his papal coat of arms.
A crowned Ethiopian, a bear and a scallop (sea shell) - all of which
appear on the insignia of his former diocese of Munich and Friesing,
where he served as archbishop for four years before being summoned to
Rome in 1981 to become the Vatican's doctrinal overseer.
The crowned Ethiopian represents the universality of the Church,
accepting all without distinction of race or class.
The bear, which is saddled with heavy packs, symbolizes the weight of
the papal office. It has its origins in a Bavarian legend concerning the
diocese's patron, St. Korbinian, who encountered the animal while on a
trip to Rome. The bear ate Korbinian's mule, as a punishment he made the
bear carry his pack to Rome before releasing him.
The shell denotes the pilgrim, but also recalls a story about St.
Augustine pondering the mystery of the Trinity as he walked along a
beach, and coming upon a child who was playing with a shell and trying
to fill a hole with the ocean's water. And when he told the child that
what he was doing was pointless, the child told him: no more than you
trying to understand the Trinity. The pope has a particular attachment
to St. Augustine, on whom he wrote his dissertation in 1953.
The papal elements included are the Mitre, the Pallium and the Crossed
Keys.
The mitre (a bishop’s pointed ceremonial headdress) replaces the
(beehive) tiara familiar from former papal coats of arms. Pope Paul VI
(1963-1978) dropped the ceremonial use of the tiara, although he, and
his immediate successors John Paul I and John Paul II, retained it in
their coats of arms. Benedict XVI has replaced it with the mitre, on
which is emblazoned three gold bands representing "order, jurisdiction
and magisterium." These are the symbolic equivalents of the three layers
of the tiara. They are connected into a unity by the vertical gold
strip, representing the unity of these three kinds of authority in the
person of the Supreme Pontiff.
The Pallium (a type of stole) is a new addition to papal coats of arms.
It represents episcopal authority, the special kind of jurisdiction that
is reserved to archbishops in their province and to the pope universally
in the Church.
The two crossed keys symbolize the powers Christ gave to the Apostle
Peter and to his successors. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of
heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and
whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)
The gold key represents the power to bind in heaven and the silver key
spiritual authority on earth. The two keys are united by the cord, again
indicating their essential unity in Peter and his successors.
ZENIT is an International News Agency (U.S.
based) that provides coverage concerning the Catholic Church.
http://www.zenit.org/
CNS – Catholic News Service / U.S. Conference of Bishops
is London based.
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/
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Visit
the web site of the Irish Bishops' Conference:
www.catholiccommunications.ie
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Click below for the text of:
Catechism
Of The Catholic Church
www.scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc.htm
Diocese of Down and Connor
For up to date News visit the Diocesan web site at
e-mail: down.connor@familyministry.freeserve.co.uk
