Friday, March 15, 2013

The Pope’s New Coat of Arms Restores Tiara?

A Fanciful Aspiration?
Edit: a Pope who doesn’t  speak English, who in turns plays the pilgrim Pope, then the Mystic Pope, a connoisseur of decadent art, then sending signals by venerating the relics of St. Pope Pius V, and now putting the tiara back on his coat of arms which the previous Holy Father, Benedict XVI had removed.

H/t to Orbis Catholicus…

And from Charles Coulombe:

Will the Next Pope Be Crowned?

The announcement of Pope Benedict XVI on February 11, 2013 that he would leave the Papacy (he could notresign it, as there is no earthly authority into whose hands he could do so; he renounced the See of St. Peter and the Diocese of Rome, and abdicated as Sovereign of the Vatican City State) on February 28 sent shock-waves throughout the world, and continues to do so at this writing. The fact that he will still be alive, though not participating, immediately alters many of the traditional features of the Sede Vacante — those dealing with ceremonial side of Papal death will be omitted, though something will have to be decided about such things as the ritual destruction of Benedict’s official ring. The Conclave shall duly elect Benedict’s successor, and the new Pontificate shall begin.
Apart from the next Pope’s record in diocesan or curial administration, much will be told about the course he intends to follow by his choices for the rites with which his Papacy will begin — what was traditionally called acoronation, and has been referred to in the last three Pontificates as an “installation” or “inauguration.” Pay close attention to what transpires on that day in early or mid-March; you will learn a great deal about the course of the Church in the next few years.
For the past several centuries, the coronation was a long ceremony, taking about six hours to complete. When Paul VI was elected, he shortened it considerably, by removing many of the small gestures, some of the repeated actions, and the like. He was however crowned with a Tiara as were his predecessors (albeit — in keeping with his unique aesthetics — a rather ugly one lacking the traditional ornamentation). Paul laid it on the altar of St. Peter’s at the end of Vatican II, in a gesture that was seen as bespeaking humility by some and as virtual abdication by others. Because of the changes he made in the Papal Court (ending most hereditary and lay offices, though a few remain), Paul made it impossible, just as he had with Papal funerals, for the sort of Coronation that he and his predecessors enjoyed to be performed again (cynics noted that while calling for a greater role for laity in the Church at large, he sharply reduced their standing in the ceremonial life of the Vatican). Nevertheless, it is certain that he intended for his successors to have some sort of coronation. In 1975 Apostolic Constitution, Romano Pontifici Eligendo, Paul explicitly declared, “the new pontiff is to be crowned by the senior cardinal deacon.”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you serious? He won't wear a mozzeta and you think he may wear the papal tiara. We will be lucky if he continues wearing the white cassock and doesn't start running around in a tab shirt and black pants.

Dan Leckman said...

Here's a link to another blog that reveals what the ACTUAL coat of arms looks like:
http://www.johnthavis.com/the-pope-coat-of-arms-and-motto#.UU3fiByG0b1
No tiara. Don't know where you got this from!