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I had to be away the rest of Sunday after I had posted the translation of the Holy Father's homily and Angelus message, rather annoyed that the newsphoto agencies had not posted any pictures of the Angelus at all. Then when the OR for today was posted online yesterday, there does happen to be one picture of the Angelus in it - with a strange new coat of arms on the window hanging!... Had this change been announced at all???? Anyway, it turns out that the site Rinascimento Sacro did have an alert on Sunday after the telecast of the Angelus, with a press release, no less, from the people who designed the coat of arms. Why would a press release come from them but not from the Press Office?
A comparison of the 'new' and the 'old'....
A new emblem for the Pope
by Andrea Carradori
Translated from
Oct. 10, 2010
We all saw from the TV coverage of the Angelus today, October 10, how the velvet standard hanging from the papal window of the Apostolic Palace now carries a new coat of arms, said to have been donated by a faithful on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Benedict XVI's election. Following is the press release from the Ars Regia firm which executed the design:
FERRARA, Oct. 10 - During the Angelus at noon today, one could admire for the first time the new coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI, which is adorned with the papal tiara [the three-tiered pontifical crown that has not been used after John XXIII],according to traditional practice.
This coat of arms, entirely embroidered by hand, and executed by Ars Regia, the Ferrara firm that makes sacred vestments, is a redesign of the papal seal with his personal emblems and the papal pallium with red crosses.
The new frame for the seal was inspired by that of Papa Barberini [Urban VIII] that is seen on the pillars of Bernini's baldachin in St. Peter's Basilica.
The difference from the earlier design - which has been attributed to Cardinal Andrea Lanza di Montezemolo [an architect who has an interest in heraldry] - is that the new design uses the papal tiara once more, surmounting the Pontiff's personal emblems, instead of the miter, thus restoring its traditional use.
Not even John Paul II had renounced the use of the tiara on the papal coat of arms, and the innovation of the miter in its place had perplexed hereldry experts.
Pietro Siffi, who owns Ars Regia, commented: "Other coats of arms with the tiara have been used by us on some liturgical vestments worn by Benedict XVI since the Advent of 2007. For instance, the entire set of vestments worn by the Pope and his deacons to inaugurate the Pauline Year all carried the coat of arms with the tiara in place of the miter".
To those who would attribute an ideological significance to the new design, Siffi replies: "The coats of arms of abbots, protonotaries, bishops, archbishops and cardinals that one sees on the cathedral doors around the world contain one element in common, the galero, an ancient headgear with tassels which is no longer used, but it has never been taken out of prelates' seals, just as no one has ever taken out the helmet from nobles' seals or the crown from that of monarchs. Even if the Pope no longer uses the tiara, it should stay in his coat of arms."
One assumes, of course, that the Holy Father has approved the design change (which, by the way, is not yet reflected on the Vatican webpages). It seems so unceremonious - and if it is true that the design we are now so familiar with was by Cardinal Lanza di Montezemolo - and callous to discard it in favor of a design promoted by a firm which deals in papal vestments.
If the coat of arms has really changed, it will mean changing everything in the Vatican and Castel Gandolfo that carries the old one (starting with the item we most often see carrying the coat of arms: the tassels of the Pope's sash)- they'll have to rip out mosaic pavements, wallpaper, seals carved into furniture, etc. It all sounds very frivolous.
Perhaps I may grow to like the new one, if it is indeed going to be the emblem from now on, but my first reaction is that I much prefer the simplicity and colors of the Montezemolo design, which I think go much better with the personality of Joseph Ratzinger. All that gold in the new design seems pompous and pretentious.
Also, I had really welcomed the very original idea of replacing the tiara with the miter. It reflects Joseph Ratzinger's humility and recalls 'the humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord' from his first words urbi et orbi as Pope.
Not to mention that for purposes of ecumenism, the miter - which all bishops share, including the Bishop of Rome - rather than the tiara on the Pope's personal emblem is so much more 'reassuring' to the Orthodox, who resent the implied 'authority' of the Pope in a reunified Church!
The old design is more balanced, in terms of space and layout, between the emblems of Peter and the personal emblems of Benedict XVI. In the new design, the tiara and the keys (and its tassels) overwhelm the Moor, the bear, and the scallop.
I don't buy Siffi's arguments about the galero at all, and whatever the rules of heraldry may be, who says that no one may ever introduce an innovation into anything?
And a change like this should have been announced and explained by the Vatican press office, not by a self-serving commercial firm.
I hope this is all a bad dream and that someone simply jumped the gun by mistake....
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 12/10/2010 15:53] |