Bishop Massa & Bishop Mroziewski

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On July 20 the Most Rev. Nicholas DiMarzio will ordain the Most Rev. James Massa and the Most Rev. Witold Mroziewski as auxiliary bishops of Brooklyn. Their newly-assumed coats of arms are pictured below without comment. I am personally acquainted with Bishop Massa and he had wanted me to design his coat of arms but others took that matter out of his hands. Therefore, I will refrain from expressing an opinion on the design of the arms.

6 thoughts on “Bishop Massa & Bishop Mroziewski”

sscreech2013 July 20, 2015 at 2:27 AM

Thanks for the posting. I think the images speak for themselves ! May Their Excellencies have much joy of them.

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Xavier Garcia July 20, 2015 at 4:01 AM

What is the torch tincture?

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1. Hans van Heijningen July 23, 2015 at 3:14 AM
  
  I presume the torch is meant as “proper”. That can result into varying shades. As far as I know this is the first c.o.a. in which pope Francis is honoured with a symbol from his papal c.o.a. Under the popes JP II and Benedict XVI we saw this new tradition coming.
  
  In my opinion there is no reason for a proper torch. Cleare was a single colored torch with a red/gold fire.
  
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  1. guyselvester Post authorJuly 23, 2015 at 2:49 PM
    
    Hardly the first example of a charge from Pope Francis’ arms in the new coat of arms of a bishop. In the last three years there have been numerous examples of the star and of the sunburst with “IHS” being used in bishops’ coats of arms.
Hans van Heijningen July 29, 2015 at 3:50 AM

Not all sunbursts with “IHS” in episcopal c.o.a.’s are “Papal”. Some bishops are Jesuites themselves, other s have a reference to their semenaries, etc. But ( as far as I know) the c.o.a. of mgr. Massa is the first (nearly) the first one in which the sunburst is explained as “explicite the Papal charge”.

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1. guyselvester Post authorJuly 30, 2015 at 12:31 PM
  
  Your original comment referred to ‘the first coat of arms in which Pope Francis is honored with a symbol from his papal coat of arms”. I say again, no it isn’t. There have already been numerous examples of bishops who have chosen elements from Pope Francis’ coat of arms. Some have chosen the sunburst with the letters IHS. In some instances they are also Jesuits (such as Bishop Barber of Oakland) but they also chose it to honor the pope. In addition, many many others have chosen to incorporate the star from the pope’s coat of arms and others still have chosen simply to use the colors blue and gold as a way to borrow from the pope’s coat of arms. Your contention that Bp. Massa’s coat of arms is the “first” instance is incorrect.
  
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