Auxiliary Bishop of Lausanne, Genève & Fribourg

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The coat of arms of the newly ordained auxiliary bishop of Lausanne, Genève & Fribourg in Switzerland, the Most Rev. Alain de Raemy. His arms are colorful and interesting and, in continental fashion, employ lots of elements repeated in four quarters. This method seems odd to those who are used to arms that are marshaled only to indicate jurisdiction over a territory like a diocese or abbey. But, it is not uncommon in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

The artwork is by Laurent Granier.

3 thoughts on “Auxiliary Bishop of Lausanne, Genève & Fribourg”

Hans van Heijningen January 22, 2014 at 4:43 PM

Here we have an auxiliarian bishop. The 1st and 4th quarter are one of the appearances of the family-crest De Raemy. The 2nd and 3rd quarters are not the crest of the diocese Lausanne, Genève & Fribourg. But what these quarters stand for, I don’t know too.

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Markku Nikolaus Koponen OSB Obl June 28, 2022 at 1:32 AM

The quarters are in wrong order. The 1st and 4th should be those of the diocese. Quartering with diocese and bishop’s personal arms is common also in Scandinavia.

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1. guyselvester Post authorJune 28, 2022 at 4:46 AM
  
  Placing the diocesan arms in the 1st and 4th quarters is usually the case in the coat of arms of the diocesan bishop. These arms belong to the auxiliary bishop. Placing the diocesan arms in the 1st & 4th quarters implies that he has jurisdiction over the diocese which, as the auxiliary bishop, he does not. As the auxiliary bishop he really shouldn’t include the diocesan coat of arms at all but I have seen this done by others as well. I think it is most likely the case that he didn’t marshal the armorial bearings that way in order to show that he isn’t the diocesan bishop.
  
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