The Most Rev. Mario Dorsonville (63) a native of Bogotá, Colombia who incardinated as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC in 1999, and who also served as Auxiliary bishop of that same archdiocese from 2015-2023 before being appointed as the 5th Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux on February 1, 2023, sadly passed away on January 19, 2024. His funeral will take place on February 1 exactly one year after the announcement of his appointment as bishop of the diocese. May he rest in peace.
In accord with the longstanding custom of attributing armorial bearings to individuals who lived before heraldry existed it was/is commonplace to attribute armorial bearings even to individuals whose very existence can be questioned and cannot be proven. Such is the case with Kaspar, Melchior and Balthazar, collectively known as the Three Wise Men. Even as attributed arms they have a simplicity and clarity that is in keeping with the typical form of more ancient coats of arms. Have a great celebration of the “Little Christmas” known as Epiphany.
In continuing my exploration of the royal arms of Denmark, leading up to the Abdication of Margrethe II and the Accession of Frederik X on January 14 I note with interest (not necessarily with any great significance, but merely with interest) that the Danish royal arms, the version used by the House of Oldenburg-Glückburg, occasionally turns up in other royal houses as well.
In particular, when the Greek monarchy was established in 1832 and offered to the Bavarian prince, Otto, whose reign lasted until his ouster in 1862, the Hellenic throne was then offered to Prince William of Denmark who ruled as George I of the Hellenes. The Wittlesbach arms placed at the center of the coat of arms of the Greek kingdom was replaced with a shield bearing the dynastic arms of the House of Glücksburg, a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg. That was used during the next several reigns until the monarchy was abolished in 1924. Then, in 1935 when the monarchy was restored and King George II returned to the throne the coat of arms was modified again.
Now the center of the shield bore the greater coat of arms of the Danish royal house as used by his ancestor and King of Denmark, Christian IX from 1863-1903 before a modification of its own. In addition, the Greek coat of arms changed the two Woodwose supporters to depictions of Heracles as supporters. This coat of arms was then subsequently used by the remaining Greek kings until the monarchy was finally abolished in the 1973 referendum.
However, the last King of the Hellenes, Constantine II, had married Anne-Marie of Denmark, the daughter of King Frederik IX of Denmark and the sister of Queen Margrethe II. She bore the royal arms of Denmark as she inherited them from her father and the Danish royal arms made a double appearance in the reign of King Constantine II.
Through the Greek branch of the House of Oldenburg-Glücksburg the Danish royal arms also made their way to the UK. The late Prince Philip, husband of Elizabeth II, used the surname Mountbatten which he got from his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, later changed to Mountbatten, but he was born a prince of Greece (and Denmark). His father was Prince Andrew, the son King George I of the Hellenes and, himself, the son of King Christian IX of Denmark. So, the very first coat of arms devised for Philip Mountbatten, and used by him for only two years before adopting a different coat of arms, reflected his Greek and Danish heritage, as well as his mother’s British ancestry.
The Danish royal arms–as used by Christian IX– are on the dynastic shield in the center. In the dexter chief quarter the coat of arms of his grandmother, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, and the daughter of Queen Victoria, (but with the escutcheon in pretense of Saxony inherited from her father, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha diplomatically removed) have been unusually and awkwardly added as a nod to his British ancestry, perhaps to quell any fears of the heiress presumptive, Elizabeth, marrying “a foreigner”. These were deemed unacceptable and in 1949 new arms were granted to him which he had a hand in designing.
This coat of arms includes quarters for Greece and Denmark (as well as Mountbatten and Edinburgh, his Dukedom) and make use of the Mountbatten lion supporter and crest, as well as the Greek Heracles supporter rather than the Danish Woodwose. You can tell because of the lion-skin loin cloth.
Another Greek Oldenburg-Glücksburg connection can be seen in the coat of arms of the Queen-Emerita of Spain, Sofia. She was born a princess of Greece (and Denmark), the eldest daughter of King Paul and Queen Frederika. Her coat of arms as Queen of Spain, wife of King Juan Carlos I is
Impaled with her husband’s coat of arms, Queen Sofia’s arms are those of the Greek royal house which she inherited from her father bearing the inescutcheon of the Danish royal arms as used by Christian IX. This shows the dynastic link to the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty; a shield containing the Dannebrog, a cross from the Danish flag, and quarterings representing Denmark, Schleswig, the former Kalmar Union, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg, Oldenburg, Delmenhorst, and the former Danish royal titles of King of the Wends and Goths.
Of course there is also the coats of arms of two sisters, both princesses of Denmark and daughters of Christian IX. Alexandra married the Prince of Wales and went on to become Queen of the UK as the spouse and consort of King Edward VII.
The other was Princess Dagmar who married Czar Alexander III and became Empress of Russia as Maria Feodorovna.
The Danish royal family has many connections to the other royal houses of Europe and the Danish Royal Arms, simplified once again by Queen Margrethe in 1972 to its present form, crops up in several different places which I simply find interesting.
I have already discussed the state coat of arms of Denmark in a previous post. Now I’d like to look at the Royal Coat of Arms which is much more complex. The current version was established by royal decree July 5, 1972. It is simpler than previous versions.
The blazon is: A shield quartered by a cross throughout Argent fimbriated Gules; first and fourth quarter Or, three lions passant in pale Azure crowned and armed Or langued Gules, nine hearts Gules (for Denmark); second quarter Or, two lions passant in pale Azure armed Or langued Gules (for Schleswig); third quarter Azure, party per fess, in base per pale; in chief three crowns Or (for the Kalmar Union), in dexter base a ram passant Argent armed and unguled Or (for the Faroe Islands), in sinister base a polar bear rampant Argent (for Greenland). Overall an escutcheon Or two bars Gules (for Oldenburg) the whole surrounded by the Collars of the Order of the Dannebrog and the Order of the Elephant. Supporters two woodwoses armed with clubs Proper standing on a pedestal. All surrounded by a mantle Gules doubled Ermine crowned with a royal crown and tied up with tasseled strings Or.
Since approximately 1960 the royal coat of arms has been reserved exclusively for use by the sovereign, the royal family, the royal guards and the royal court.
Among the simplifications from former versions was a reduction in quarterings for other territories and a much greater simplified inescutcheon overall.
With the approaching abdication of Queen Margrethe II and the accession of King Frederik X of Denmark I’ve been reading up on the heraldry used by the country and the royal house. The state coat of arms consists of three pale blue lions passant wearing crowns accompanied by nine red lilypads (normally represented as heraldic hearts), all in a golden shield with the royal crown on top. The national coat of arms of Denmark is similar to the state coat of arms, but without the royal crown above the shield.
It is historically the coat of arms of the House of Estridsen, the dynasty which provided the kings of Denmark between 1047 and 1412. The current design was introduced in 1819, under Frederik VI. Previously, there had been no distinction between the “national” and the “royal” coat of arms. Since 1819, there has been a more complex royal coat of arms of Denmark separate from the national coat of arms. I’ll take a look at that in another post.
Historically, the lions faced the viewer rather than forward and the number of hearts was not regulated and could be much higher. The “heart” shapes originally represented waterlily pads; a royal decree of 1972 still specifies these figures as søblade (“lake leaves”). Frederik VI also fixed the number of hearts to nine and decreed that the heraldic beasts were lions, as opposed to leopards, and consequently facing forward in 1819. The blazon is: Or, three lions passant in pale azure crowned and armed Or langued gules, nine hearts Gules.
In her annual New Year message Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced her intention to abdicate the throne on January 14, 2024 exactly 52 years to the day that she succeeded her father and became queen. She will be succeeded by her son, Crown Prince Frederik, who will reign as King Frederik X.
God bless Queen Margrethe, the last reigning queen in the world at the present time, and long live King Frederik!
On December 16 the late Eminent Argentinian Edoardo Cardinal Pironio (1920-1998) who served in different capacities in the Roman Curia, and was considered as “papabile” in the two conclaves of 1978, was beatified at the Vatican.
His armorial bearings were:
Last year I shared this idea as we approached the Christmas season. I thought I was worth seeing again.
At this festive time of year it is a bit of fun to wonder if there is a bishop in the Church who can claim to have jurisdiction over the North Pole and, thus, be Santa Claus’ pastor. I think such a claim might be made by the Territorial Prelature of Tromsø which is in the northernmost part of Norway. A portion of the territory of the prelature is above the arctic circle.
The Prelature is currently served by an Administrator
The recently approved joint cypher of King Charles & Queen Camilla which represents them both.
The Most Rev. Joseph E. Strickland (65), originally a priest of Dallas, Texas, later incarnated to Tyler, Texas and since 2012 Bishop of Tyler was removed from that office on November 11, 2023 by the Roman Pontiff.
Back in 2012 when he was appointed as Fourth Bishop of Tyler I had the happy task of designing his coat of arms. Now that he has ceased to be the Bishop of Tyler his coat of arms will be modified to reflect that reality. He remains a bishop in the Church and, as such, retains the use of his armorial bearings. His coat of arms at the time of his ordination and installation was:
Now that he has been removed as Ordinary of Tyler, his armorial bearings will appear as this:
On September 30 Pope Francis held a Consistory in order to create new cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Among those was the Frenchman from the Archdiocese of Rennes, Christophe Cardinal Pierre (77), who since 2016 has served as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America. He was named Cardinal Deacon of San Benedetto fuori Porta San Paolo. The arms he assumed on becoming a bishop in 1995 are now ensigned with the scarlet galero of a cardinal.
On October 12, the Most Rev. Stephen Maekawa, OP (55) a priest of the Order of Preachers (i.e. the Dominicans) living and working in Alaska was ordained a bishop and installed as the 10th Bishop of Fairbanks, Alaska.
His coat of arms is:
According to the diocesan website:
“In the right side of the shield (to the observer’s left), we find represented the coat of arms of the Diocese of Fairbanks. At the base, the North Star is suspended on a blue field over the mountains of Alaska, which appear in white. In the upper section, between two red roses on a field of gold, is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, titular symbol of the Cathedral of the diocese. The roses, representing St. Therese of Lisieux, patroness of the Alaska Missions, recall her promise, “After my death I will let fall a shower of roses.
In the left side of the shield (to the observer’s right) is the personal coat of arms of Bishop Maekawa. The black and white cross is the from the coat of arms of the Order of Preachers founded by St. Dominic in 1216. The waves represent the waters of baptism and the family name Maekawa which means “before the river.” The episcopal motto “Duc in Altum” is Jesus’ command to the Apostle Peter, “Put out into the Deep” which reminds us to trust in the Lord Jesus believing that all creation belongs to God: “The earth is the Lord’s and all it holds, the world and those who dwell in it.” (Ps 24:1)“
I think, unsurprisingly, the bishop has chosen a simple coat of arms reflecting his Religious community. It harmonizes well with the diocesan arms with which it is impaled. A nice design that doesn’t try to do too much–perhaps the single biggest error made by most new American bishops.
I heard the sad news today of the sudden and unexpected passing of the Most Rev. Kevin Birmingham, Titular Bishop of Dolia and Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago. He passed from this life on October 1, 2023. he was 51. May he rest in peace.
I was privileged to design the bishop’s coat of arms when he became a bishop in 2020.
On September 26, in an unprecedented liturgy, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles received four new Auxiliary Bishops at the same time. While it is unusual for any diocese to receive so many new bishops at once it seems almost fitting for the U.S.’s largest archdiocese of well over 4 million Catholics to receive the needed assistance in episcopal ministry in order to serve the people of southern California adequately. Bishops Albert Bahhuth (66), Matthew Elshoff, OFM. Cap.(68), Brian Nunes (58) and Slawomir Szkredka (49) were all ordained to the episcopate by the Most Rev. José Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles.
Their armorial bearings were all designed by James-Charles Noonan. As he usually does he makes a great deal about the shape of the episcopal cross in each achievement as well as the “significance” of the shape and color of the gemstone in each one. None of that is heraldically supportable. It may be his favorite idea but, as I have written about extensively in the past, the external ornaments in a coat of arms are not personalized not do they contain unique and special symbols particular to the armiger. That would require they be blazoned as such and would then have to be copied by any artist rendering the coat of arms. Only the charges on the shield are unique to the armiger.
Even there, Mr. Noonan has placed his own stamp on these four coats of arms. Acknowledging the unusual nature of four bishops being ordained at once he has included a similar chief in all four coats of arms as a means of tying them all together by the use of this similar charge. The idea in and of itself has some merit. The occasion was unique; something unique to mark it is a nice idea.
However, the coats of arms of auxiliary bishops do not contain charges that represent the jurisdiction in which they will serve as auxiliary bishop. A heraldic representation of possessing jurisdiction over a diocese belongs to the Ordinary of the diocese alone. In addition, a reference to the diocese (by borrowing a charge from the diocesan coat of arms) is quite common in heraldry. But, that isn’t what has occurred here. Instead of each coat of arms borrowing some charge from the arms of Los Angeles the four new bishop’s arms all bear an almost identical chief–an ordinary charge–in a manner not unlike those used to signify membership in a Religious Order or an Order of Chivalry.
Don’t misunderstand me: my criticism is not of the idea of heraldically marking the unusual circumstance of four bishops being ordained all at the same time. Rather, it is of the use of a near-identical charge, and one that sort of implies a kind of jurisdiction, that I am criticizing. It’s a clever devise. But, perhaps a bit “too clever” for its own good. In addition, one has to consider that all four of these bishops may not–indeed very likely will not–remain as auxiliaries of Los Angeles permanently. Once one of them is translated to another diocese the whole unifying symbolism uniting all four coats of arms begins to fall apart. Perhaps the use of a single similar charge employed differently in each of the coats of arms would have been a better solution?
The design of each of the rest of the four coats of arms is quite correct and very nice. As usual, Mr. Noonan’s regular collaborator in producing the artwork has shown herself capable of creating very fine work.
The following are the coats of arms of Bishops Bahhuth, Elshoff, Nunes and Szkredka:
On September 28 of this year the Most Rev. Michael Pham (56), a priest of the Diocese of San Diego, CA will be ordained a bishop and will serve as Titular Bishop of Cercina and Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego. On the same day, the Most Rev. Felipe Pulido (53), a priest of the Diocese of Yakima, WA will be ordained the Titular Bishop of Buffada and also serve as Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego.
I was happy to assist both of these new bishops with the creation of their respective coats of arms. The armorial bearings of Bishop Pham are:
The shield is divided horizontally to depict a silver (white) sky above a blue wavy ocean. The ocean is criss-crossed by diagonal lines in order to create a pattern suggestive of a fisherman’s net. This has more than one meaning. First, it represents that after 1975 while still living in Vietnam the bishop’s father became a fisherman to provide for his family. In addition, the net indicates not only the task of an apostle (or a successor to an apostle) of being a “fisher of men” but it also alludes to the New Evangelization where we are exhorted to put out into the deep (Duc in Altum). This symbolizes both the bishop’s priestly and episcopal ministry.
In the upper part of the shield the main charge is a boat on the waves under full sail. The boat also alludes to the work of a fisherman. In addition, a boat, in heraldry, is often used as a symbol of the Church itself, often referred to as the barque of Peter, who was a fisherman himself. On the sail of the boat in the center is a red beehive surrounded by two green palm branches. The beehive is a symbol of St. John Chrysostom, the bishop’s baptismal patron saint. Chrysostom was the archbishop of Constantinople and renowned for his inspiring preaching. So, he was known as a “honey-tongued” preacher, hence the beehive as his symbol. The palm branches are an ancient symbol of martyrdom. The bishop’s family comes from the first diocese in the north of Vietnam where his ancestors were among the first martyrs for the faith in that part of the world.
On either side of the boat are eight red tongues of fire which also have more than one meaning. First, they are symbols of the Holy Spirit which, the Sacred Scriptures remind us, descended on the Apostles as tongues of fire at Pentecost. This was the beginning of their ministry to go out into the world to preach the Gospel so it is another symbol of Evangelization. Throughout his priestly ministry the bishop has worked with various groups of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Many flames represent a diversity of communities. Bishop Pham strengthened the cultural communities found in the diocese and shared them with the larger Catholic community. He has served as Episcopal Vicar of the Office of Ethnic & Intercultural Communities. Six years ago, he launched the first-ever Pentecost Mass for All Peoples, which has come to attract more than 2,000 faithful annually. So, symbols of the Holy Spirit were seen to appropriately reflect this ministry. It also reflects how, on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended, people from many different and various places, languages and cultures heard the Apostles speaking in their own languages. The red of the boat, the beehive and the tongues of fire is a further allusion to the blood of the martyrs.
The motto below the shield is, “Hiệp Nhất trong Chúa Kitô” which means “One in Christ” or “United in Christ” in Vietnamese. This motto reflects the work the bishop has done throughout his priesthood to help various communities and to work towards the unity of diverse cultures and groups within the People of God.
The armorial bearings of Bishop Pulido are:
The shield is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. In the first and fourth quarters the lines alternate blue and silver (white) while in the other two quarters they alternate red and gold (yellow).
The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. In addition, they suggest water which also alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. In addition, they can be seen as referring to the waters of Baptism. The red and gold (yellow) lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. In addition, the colors can be seen as referring to the Blood (as well as water) that poured from the side of the Lord at His crucifixion. They are also seen as referring to bread (gold/yellow) and wine (red) as a reference to the Eucharist. In this way these lines also refer back to the foot washing because Jesus was showing His disciples the kind of self-sacrificing service they were called to which was about to be played out in His sacrifice on the cross and would be experienced for them in the future whenever they came together to share the Eucharist.
At the center of the shield is a silver (white) roundel called a plate. On this plate is a simple symbolic representation of the Mandatum (washing of the feet). The outer edge of this roundel, or plate is a line composed of small humps. Such a line is called “invected” in heraldry. It is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, WA where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.
The motto below the shield is, “Building Communio” which is what the bishop sees as the purpose and goal of his episcopal ministry.
On September 3 the new Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussel (Malines-Bruxelles) was ordained a bishop and was installed as the 23rd Archbishop. The Most Reverend Luc Terlinden (54) is of the noble family of the viscounts and barons Terlinden. This makes him the first archbishop who is from the nobility since Mgr. de Méan (who was the last Prince-Bishop of Liège and died as Archbishop in 1830). There have been other nobles named as bishops in Belgium, however. It is disappointing that the archbishop chose to create and assume new arms (below) that only slightly refer to his noble family’s coat of arms (above, left). I’m sure many fine heraldist and genealogists are disappointed at that. The arms he has assumed aren’t bad, per se. Rather, it is that his ancestral arms are far better.
Throughout the course of my priesthood, after my time as a Parochial Vicar concluded and I began to be placed in charge of my assignments I also began the practice of 1) devising armorial bearings for the different places in which I have served and 2) marshaling those newly-devised coats of arms with my own. Having jurisdiction over the church or parish was then illustrated heraldically.
In the image above the first coat of arms (upper left) is my personal coat of arms assumed at ordination in 1997. The next image (upper right) shows my arms impaled with those of the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Raritan, NJ where I served as the Sixth Rector (hence the four tassels instead of only two) from 2009-2015. The image at lower left shows my arms impaled with those of St. Joseph Church in Washington, NJ where I served as Administrator and then as the Twenty-Second Pastor from 2015-2023. During the last part of that time I was also Dean of the Morris Canal Deanery. The final image (lower right) shows my coat of arms impaled to the newly-devised parish coat of arms of St. Mary, Star of the Sea in South Amboy, NJ where I will serve as the Ninth Pastor from 2023 onwards.
(Artwork: Xavier Garcia)
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Ecclesiastical Heraldry
EXARANDORUM 