Archbishop Sheehan of Santa Fe

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On June 3 the Most Rev. Michael Sheehan, Archbishop Emeritus of Santa Fe where he served from 1993-2015, passed away. He was 84.

His armorial bearings had a rather unusual charge. “Issuing from the bottom of the Archbishop’s arms is the silver (white) dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, in Rome, which is placed below a gold (yellow) Roman Numeral two (II) to signify that Archbishop Sheehan was in St. Peter’s on the day that Vatican Council II opened.”

Uh-huh.

All I can say, while meaning no personal disrespect to the deceased archbishop, is: nice try.

1 thought on “Archbishop Sheehan of Santa Fe”

  1. Hermann's avatarHermann

    In my native German, there is a proverb: Gut gemeint ist das Gegenteil von gut. This means literally: well-meant is the opposite of good (or of well-done). The comment “nice try” would be a polite version of the same.

    There are instances of buildings as charges of coats of arms, so it can be done – but as usual, there is a very fine line between “good heraldry” and “nice try”.

    H.

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