On January 29 the Most Rev. Michael Fors Olson will be ordained and installed as the fourth bishop of Fort Worth, Texas. His personal arms depict a symbol for the Holy Trinity as an allusion to Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas where the bishop served as Rector. Below the sword and pan balance is symbolic of his baptismal patron, St. Michael. The blue fess in the center bears the spikenard flower taken from the arms of Pope Francis as well as two yellow roses (a allusion to Texas) representing Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Thérèse the “Little Flower”. The motto means “The Splendor of the Truth”. The coat of arms of Bishop Olson were designed and marshaled to those of the diocese by Deacon Paul Sullivan.

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.

Salvatore Matano will be installed today as the ninth bishop of Rochester, New York succeeding Bishop matthew Clark who has served there for the last thirty four years. Rochester is also the diocese where the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen served as diocesan bishop briefly before being promoted to titular archbishop of Newport.

The description of the bishop’s coat of arms (taken from material provided by the diocese) is as follows:

“On a blue field is a silver moline cross taken from the heraldry of the bishop’s native diocese of Providence, Rhode Island; a golden star with seven points simultaneously recalls the Divine institution of the Seven Sacraments and the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady.  The liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is observed on the 15th day of September, the day of Bishop Matano’s birth. In base are seven silver hills on which the Eternal City of Rome – the city of the Bishop’s priestly formation and graduate education – and the City of Providence – the city of the Bishop’s birth and preliminary education – are said to be built. The blue background symbolizes the ascent of the human soul towards God, with whom each of us was created to dwell in unapproachable light.”

The personal arms are those he assumed when he became a bishop in 2005.

I learned only today of the October 14th death the the Most Rev. James J. Daly, DD Auxiliary Bishop of Rockville Centre, NY. He was 92. I grew up in that diocese and Bishop Daly (whose gentle demeanor and soft-spokeness earned him the ironic nickname “tiger”) was the bishop who confirmed me in 1977. In fact, he had only just become a bishop the same month. His first confirmation was, fittingly, for the parish where he had served as pastor up until becoming a bishop but ours was only the second time he had administered the sacrament of Confirmation.

The right-hand man to Bishop John McGann for years, Daly also served as dean of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington and was in charge of helping decide which parishes priests would serve in. Yet colleagues said he was unassuming and humble, and was happiest being a parish priest.

Daly was born in the Bronx, grew up in Jamaica, Queens attended a Catholic high school, and studied for the priesthood at the seminary in Huntington. His experience as a priest on Long Island started before the local diocese existed. When he was ordained in 1948, Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Brooklyn made up the Diocese of Brooklyn. Nine years later, Nassau and Suffolk were carved out to create the Diocese of Rockville Centre. In 1958, Daly was assigned to the seminary, where he rose to the post of dean. By 1972, he was named pastor of St. Boniface parish in Elmont. By many accounts, it was one of the happiest times of his life. But the church hierarchy also needed him, and in 1977 Bishop John McGann requested that he be named auxiliary bishop. He eventually rose to vicar general, the No. 2 post in the diocese.

Daly retired in 1996, but remained active, visiting patients in hospitals and nursing homes. He also cared for a disabled brother in the house his family had bought decades ago in Blue Point, where Daly had his first assignment as a priest, from 1948 to 1951, at Our Lady of the Snow.

His coat of arms is based on the Irish arms associated with the name Daly. It has the addition of a scallop shell, a symbol of his baptismal patron, St. James, as well as the Sacred heart, a lily and a griffin’s head. These charges represent family allusions as well as his personal devotions. Unfortunately, I do not have a full color rendering.

He was a kind, gentle and very capable pastor, priest and bishop. Requiescat in pace.

The coat of arms of the Most Reverend Hugh Charles Boyle, DD who served as the Sixth bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1921-1950. His arms are in the older style popular at that time and include the mitre and crozier as well as the episcopal cross (not to be confused with a processional cross) and galero. In 1969 Pope Paul VI’s instructions discontinued the use of the mitre and crozier in the coats of arms of people even though they are frequently used as external ornaments in the coats of arms of corporate bodies such as dioceses and abbeys.

The arms of the See of Pittsburgh were based on those of the city of Pittsburgh which, in turn were based on those of William Pitt. In the diocesan arms the bezants (gold roundels) have been changed to crosses and the inclusion of the sword alludes to the titular patron of the cathedral: St. Paul.

Very nice! Unfortunately, I cannot find a color image.

UPDATE: An intrepid reader informs me this is actually the arms of Bishop Regis Canevin, also of Pittsburgh.

My friend, Philippe Pille shared with me his very nicely done rendering of the coat of arms of Bishop Denville.

No. Just….no.

The Most Rev. Anthony G. Bosco (August 1, 1927-July 2, 2013) who served as Third Bishop of Greensburg, Pennsylvania from 1987-2004 has passed away. He was the bishop who installed me in the Ministry of Acolyte on my way to the priesthood. His coat of arms with the distinctive single charge of an oak tree as an allusion to the name “Bosco” was designed by the late Prof. Géza Grosschmid, who was my mentor in heraldry, and emblazoned by none other than the late (great) Abp. Bruno B. Heim. In fact, the bishop’s personal arms were used by Heim as part of the cover art for his seminal work, “Heraldry In The Catholic Church” (1978). Bishop Bosco purposely didn’t use a galero in his coat of arms and preferred to use the one external ornament that is exclusive to and truly indicates the coat of arms of a bishop. Namely, the episcopal cross. May he rest in peace.