13.02.2021
The Coats of Arms of the new Auxiliary Bishops of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Coat of Arms of
Auxiliary Bishop Nivaldo dos Santos Ferreira Titular Bishop of Thiava |
Coat of Arms of
Auxiliary Bishop Júlio César Gomes Moreira Titular Bishop of Thisiduo |
11.02.2021
The Coat of Arms of Most Rev. Larry James Kulick, who has been consecrated and installed today, on Thursday, February 11, as 6th Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg, United States.
Coat of Arms of The Most Reverend Larry James Kulick, JCL
In accordance with the heraldic tradition of the Catholic Church, the coat of arms of a bishop normally has the following elements:
- a shield with its symbols coming from family, geographic, religious and historical meanings, or from references to the name of the bishop;
- a golden processional cross, with one traversal bar to represent the rank of the bishop, “impaled” vertically behind the shield;
- a green hat (galero) with 12 attached tassels (six on each side), ordered, starting from the top, one, two and three;
- a scroll (banderole), below the shield, with the bishop’s episcopal motto written in black.
Motto
Christus est Veritas “Christ is the Truth.” Bishop Kulick chose this motto to emphasize the importance of catechesis and evangelization and the fundamental fact that eternal truth comes from Jesus Christ. The use of Latin is a tribute to his many Latin instructors in high school, college, seminary and canon law school.
Diocese of Greensburg
From the point of view of the observer, the left side of the shield represents the coat of arms of the Diocese of Greensburg.
The green surface of the diocesan arms is charged with a “fess” or band across the center, the upper side crenellated gold (yellow) to commemorate the Revolutionary War general Nathaniel Greene (1742-86), for whom the city of Greensburg was named. The crenellated “fess” recalls the German word “burg,” meaning a fortified place, or walled city, and thus represents the See of Greensburg.
The crenellated “fess” is charged with a blue, five-pointed star from the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and commemorates Bishop Hugh L. Lamb, who was an Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia prior to being appointed the first Bishop of Greensburg. On either side of the star are two double traversed crosses, tinctured red, derived from the coat of arms of the Benedictines, whose members have labored for 175 years in what is now the Diocese of Greensburg.
In the “chief” or upper portion of the shield are two yellow (gold) crosses: two sides of each limb are concave and the extremity convex, commemorating that portion of the Diocese of Pittsburgh that became the Diocese of Greensburg in 1951. That cross is also at the center of the logo of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, whose motherhouse is in Greensburg and who have ministered in the region for nearly 140 years.
The base of the shield is charged with a gold (yellow) Christogram (Chi Rho) symbolizing the Holy Eucharist, the dedicatory title of the Cathedral of the Diocese of Greensburg. The first two letters of the Greek words for Christ (XP) are combined to form the Christogram; it may be read as the Latin word “Pax” (peace), a further allusion to the years of labor of the Benedictines in the Diocese of Greensburg.
The arms of the Diocese of Greensburg were devised at the time of its establishment in 1951 by William F.J. Ryan (1903-81) of New York, N.Y., and West Chatham, Mass.
Bishop Kulick
The right side of the shield, from the point of view of the observer, is the personal arms of Bishop Kulick. It contains obvious images commemorating his Slovak heritage and several subtle images focusing on southwestern Pennsylvania, his hometown of Leechburg and other local influences.
The large double-bar cross is the cross of SS. Cyril and Methodius, the great apostles to the Slavic peoples, and the triple-peak blue mountains below it represent the three mountain ranges — Tatra, Matra and Fatra — which symbolize the northern mountainous region of the former Kingdom of Hungary (the Tatra and Fatra ranges are in present-day Slovakia). One interpretation of the double-bar cross is that one bar represents the death and the second the resurrection of Christ. After they had evangelized and Christianized the people of the Slavic nations, SS. Cyril and Methodius planted the cross on the largest of the three mountains represented in the center of the shield. The mountains also represent the hills and mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania and the Diocese of Greensburg.
The red and the blue in Bishop Kulick’s shield have multiple meanings. The darker red at the top of the shield represents the blood of martyrs, and the lighter red below it represents fire; together they symbolize the martyrdom of St. Lawrence, Bishop Kulick’s patron saint.
The blue shadow on top of the hills symbolizes how Christ illuminates the world, and blue is the color of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the diocesan patroness as Our Lady of the Assumption.
The shadows and highlights at the top of the mountains where the red and blue come together also represent St. Joseph. That recognizes that Bishop Kulick’s episcopal ordination is in the Year of St. Joseph and gives tribute to the influence of the Sisters of St. Joseph on his life. Members of the congregation lived in a convent at Bishop Kulick’s home parish, St. Martha Parish in Leechburg, and the sisters taught him at St. Joseph High School in Natrona Heights.
In addition, blue and white are the colors of Leechburg and, in heraldry, blue is the color of steel, an industry that provided the livelihood of many people in the towns throughout southwestern Pennsylvania, including Leechburg.
The sheaves with seven strands of wheat on the crests of the smaller mountains have multiple meanings. They represent St. Martha, the patroness of the bishop’s home parish, and they represent the Eucharist. St. Martha fed Jesus; Jesus feeds all of us in the Eucharist and comes to us in the seven sacraments. The wheat also symbolizes the process of evangelization and catechesis, which is an organic process of planting the seed, nourishing it and harvesting the grain. Many times the intergenerational aspect is witnessed even in the geographical immigrant experience as the seed planted in one country comes to harvest in another, an experience seen in the historical life of the Diocese of Greensburg. The 14 strands represent the 12 Apostles, Mary and Jesus, the foundation of the Church.
The coat of arms of Bishop Kulick was devised by Renato Poletti of Italy.
09.02.2021
The Coat of Arms of Most Rev. Michael Otieno Odiwa, who has been consecrated today, on Tuesday, February 9, as the new Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Homa Bay, Kenya.
06.02.2021
The Coat of Arms of Rt. Rev. Robert Józef Chrząszcz, the new Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kraków, Poland, who has been consecrated today, on Saturday, February 06, as the Titular Bishop of Forconium.
02.02.2021
The Coat of Arms of Most Rev. Martin Kmetec, who has been consecrated today, on Tuesday, February 2, as the new Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Izmir, Turkey.
25.01.2021
The Coat of Arms of Rt. Rev. Stephanus Han Jung Hyun, the new Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Daejeon, South Korea, who has been consecrated today, on Monday, January 25, as the Titular Bishop of Mozotcori.
25.01.2021
The Coat of Arms of Rt. Rev. Ivan Camilleri, the new Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, Canada, who has been consecrated today, on Monday, January 25, as the Titular Bishop of Teglata in Numidia.
The Coat of Arms Explanation (by Bishop Camilleri) The shield is split into two halves with a white and red background. These colours represent Bishop Camilleri's Maltese origin, Canada and the Archdiocese of Toronto. The main cross separating the shield into four quadrants is the St. Edward the Confessor cross with the colours symbolizing joy (green) and faith (gold). The meaning of the symbols on the shield represent that we can only truly serve joyfully when we recognize God’s goodness (the star) with willing obedience and serenity of mind (the feathers). Our service has to be zealous (the torches) and strengthened by vigilance to the spiritual and sacramental life (the chalice). Motto Servite Domino in lætitia - Serve the Lord with gladness from the Psalm 100:2 and expresses the central theme to the bishop's ministry as a priest and now serving as a bishop in the Archdiocese of Toronto. |