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POPE-ARMS Apr-27-2005 (920 words) With photo to come. xxxi

Pope drops papal crown from coat of arms, adds miter, pallium

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The papal crown has been given the boot once again, this time no longer appearing as part of the new pope's coat of arms.

Pope Benedict XVI has dispensed with the image of the three-tiered tiara that traditionally appeared at the top of each pope's coat of arms and replaced it with the pointed miter.

The pope also has added the pallium, the woolen stole symbolizing a bishop's authority, to the elements surrounding the shield.

The details of the new papal blazon were published in the April 28 edition of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. A copy was released April 27 to journalists.

"Benedict XVI has chosen a coat of arms that is rich in symbolism and meaning, so as to put his personality and his papacy in the hands of history," said Italian Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, an expert on heraldry and creator of Benedict XVI's new insignia.

"For at least the past eight centuries, popes have had their own personal coats of arms in addition to the symbols of the Apostolic See," the archbishop said in the Vatican newspaper.

While each papal shield is unique, the elements surrounding it had more or less remained the same for centuries -- until now.

Gone is the beehive-shaped crown whose actual use in important ceremonies was abandoned during the papacy of Paul VI. For Pope Benedict's ensign, the more modest and recognizable miter has taken its place.

But the silver miter has three gold stripes to mirror the symbolism of the papal tiara's three tiers: "order, jurisdiction and magisterum," said Archbishop Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, who had served as an apostolic nuncio for more than 20 years.

A vertical gold band connects the three stripes in the middle "to indicate their unity in the same person," he said.

Another novelty is the addition of the white pallium with black crosses draped below the shield.

"It indicates the (bishop's) role of being pastor of the flock entrusted to him by Christ," wrote Archbishop Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo.

What has not changed and has been part of papal emblems for centuries is the Holy See's insignia of two crossed keys, which symbolize the powers Christ gave to the Apostle Peter and his successors. The gold key on the right represents the power in heaven and the silver key on the left indicates the spiritual authority of the papacy on earth. The cord that unites the two keys alludes to the bond between the two powers.

Nestled on top of the keys lies the unique shield of Pope Benedict, which is based on his coat of arms as archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany, and is particularly rich in personal and spiritual symbolism, wrote Archbishop Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo.

The shield is divided into three sections -- each of which has its own symbol.

The central element on a red background is a large gold shell that has theological and spiritual significance for the pope, the archbishop said. The shell recalls a legend in which St. Augustine came across a boy on the seashore who was scooping water from the sea and pouring it into a small hole he had dug in the sand.

When the saint pondered this seemingly futile activity, it struck him as analogous to limited human minds trying to understand the infinite mystery of the divine.

"The shell reminds me of my great master Augustine, of my theological work, and of the vastness of the mystery which surpasses all our learning," wrote then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in his 1997 autobiography "Milestones, Memoirs: 1927-1977."

Also, Archbishop Cordero di Montezemolo wrote that the shell has long symbolized the pilgrim, "a symbolism Benedict XVI wants to keep alive" after Pope John Paul II, "the great pilgrim."

The shell is also present in the coat of arms of the Schotten monastery in Regensburg, Germany, to which the pope "feels very spiritually close," the archbishop said.

The upper left-hand section of the shield depicts a brown-faced Moor with red lips, crown and collar; it is a symbol of the former Diocese of Freising dating back to the eighth century.

Though it is not known why the Moor came to represent Freising, the pope said for him "it is an expression of the universality of the church which knows no distinctions of race or class since all are one in Christ," he said in his book, "Milestones."

Finally, a brown bear loaded with a pack on his back lumbers up the upper right-hand section of the shield.

The bear is tied to an old Bavarian legend about the first bishop and patron saint of the Diocese of Freising, St. Corbinian. According to the legend, when the saint was on his way to Rome, a bear attacked and killed his horse. St. Corbinian punished the bear by making him carry the saint's belongings the rest of the way to Rome.

Archbishop Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo said the bear symbolizes the beast "tamed by the grace of God," and the pack he is carrying symbolizes "the weight of the episcopate."

The pope said in his 1997 autobiography: "Meanwhile, I have carried my pack to Rome and wander for some time now through the streets of the Eternal City. When release will come I cannot know. What I do know is that I am God's pack animal, and, as such, close to him."

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The crown might be gone but I think Benedict XVI has made a massive improvement...this guy being Pope is going to be interesting. He's changed the Papal enthronment service and now the Papal coat of arms. Whilst at the same time re-establishing the old pilgrimage to St Paul's tomb and wearing those bright red shoes. He's at once orthodox and at once innovative. I guess thats what this architect of Vatican II meant when he spoke about 'organic development'

John Paul wore red shoes.

red shoes? maybe red ruby slippers would help cut down on the use of jet fuel and lead to a betteruse of time as the Pope visits his flock all over the planet. just click three times...........
Much Love,
Jonn

Thanks for the post Myles.

My take on the use of the mitre on the coat of arms is that Pope Benedict XVI wants a proper balance between conciliarity and papal primacy.

The Holy Father's reinstating traditonal practices and use of being innovative shows in practice what Jesus taught:

Matt.13:52 And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." (RSV)

We have a good Pope.

Paul

I like the new coat of arms. While many Latin Traditionalists think it's tantamount to heresy that the pope no longer wears the tiara, I personally think it's days are over. The mitre reflects the current papacy better. However, I wish that pallium was the new one Benedict wore at his inauguration.

Also, I think he had red shoes on, too. If you look at the pics on EWTN, you can see his feet in a few, and the shoes are not white or black, it seems to me.

Things are getting exciting around here...

Sometimes the late great Pontiff wore brown shoes too. Benedict XVI has made a point to wear clearly red shoes.

John Paul favored brown shoes over red. That's why they put brown shoes on his body when he lay in state.

When are they going to add the new coat of arms to the Vatican website? It still has the coat of arms for the Vacant See. And all the other languages except English have pictures of Benedict XVI but the English site still has "Vacancy of the Holy See" and pictures of John Paul II.

Tammy

Dear Friends,

The coat of arms is fine, I like it.

The question is whether the Vatican flag and coat of arms will now be altered and the tiara is replaced with the miter.

Alex

At one time, it might have concerned me that he replaced the tiara on his coat of arms. But it's been quite a while since the Pope actually ruled the papal states. Most of the monarchies of Europe have also faded away. Perhaps the Pope realizes the world has changed and those monarchial symbols are not helpful to the role of the Church anymore. I trust this Pope and am willing to support his decisions. There have been popes in my lifetime that I didn't trust, but I trust this man. I will say again what I have said on another post. God has given the Church a great gift in this Pope.

Dear Alex:

For quite a while now, the Vatican Flag has been described officially as depicting the mitre (not the tiara) with St. Peter's crossed keys.

However, the coat of arms still depicts the tiara though.

Amado

Hi there.

I'd qualify as a Latin rite traditionalist, though I am what you might call a moderate traditionalist, not a hardline one -- meaning that I simply appreciate and promote the continuance of the Tridentine Latin Mass as it is often called, but I also promote the reform of the reform and think the problem with Vatican II is not Vatican II, but rather some of its implementation (or lack of implementation actually) and abuse by some afterward. (I also think much of what Vatican II was seeking is quite good and needed. Eventually it would be nice to see some organic development renewed in the Tridentine rite as well, mainly in terms of some use of the vernacular in that liturgy and the updating of the calendar.)

The hardline traditionalists will probably freak out, you're right. As for me, I actually think this development of the mitre in place of the tiara is a good thing for one main reason: I think it has good overtones for a furthering of the healing of the divisions between Catholics and Orthodox. It takes that monarchial edge off things which is a stumbling block to Orthodoxy. (While we're at it, I'm also hopeful the Latin rite will return to the Creed sans Filioque for precisely the same reasons).

I've been coming to the conclusion for a few years now that the healing of the problems of the past 50 years in the West, particularly the post-conciliar era, will be healed by the Christian East, and particularly if solid steps can be made with Orthodoxy, even if only parts of it.

That being said, my own interest in the East is holistic and not simply for that reason. The East has its own inherent value and is worth knowing regardless of whether the Latin church was a Utopia.

At any rate, I mention all this to give you the insights of one Latin-rite traditionalist sort, and also so you see that not all those whole love the pre-conciliar traditions of the Latin-rite are hardliners, anti-Eastern or just plain unreasonable in their thinking.

Being a MLT myself,

I have no problem with the choice of the mitre, which distances itself from projecting a earthly king etc, as the tiara seems to imply to me.

james

Well,
I don't mind being a fish out of water. Perhaps God will grant some good of it.
I am your "hard-line" Roman Traditionalist. And no, "Dr. Roman" is not happy with this.

I had nourished hopes that Papa Ratzi, whom I regard with filial affection, would don the Tiara again. And maybe he'll throw a bone to us sooner or later.

Will this subtle repentance of our ultra-montaigne past effect any change in our relations with the Orthodox? Probably not. We would have to consign Papal jurisdiction to the dust bins of history to do that.

In the end, Our Lady of Fatima will effect what the past few Popes have longed for, not embarrassment over our past.

Pope Saint Pius X! Pray for us!!

Pax Christi,
Obediens

P.S. Orthodox...yet, innovative. Sounds dangerous to me.

LGC,

Actually, in recent years, probably for comfort, he had taken to brown loafers - they're fairly obvious in some photos.

Many years,

Neil

But Alex said he liked it...
Also I dont believe Papa Ratzi is changing the tiara from the mitre because he is feeling apologetic over it. In spite of what the Media tend to say about him, he has not changed from the theologian he was in his younger years. It was Rahner the Concilium group who betrayed the Council, the theological peritus De Lubac with Ratzinger and Von Balthasar in tow never did. Because of the extreme positions the Concilium group took they made it seem like Papa Ratzi was lost the 'spirit of Vatican II' post-Council. But anybody who has read the documents knows as Ratzinger says 'the spirit of Vatican II is in the letter of Vatican II' and his work particularly his ecclesiology of 'communio' epitomises this. The change of the papal tiara typifies the views he espouses in 'Called to Communion'. Communio, the name of the journal he founded with de Lubac et al is one of the key themes of Ratzinger's theology and what he has been doing since he got elected is just showing facets of it.