Catholic Bishops in Virginia

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
Total Posts:  7658
Joined  08-06-2004
 
 
 
30 April 2014 10:57
 

For my book project, I’ve been collecting and drawing the arms of Catholic and Episcopal bishops in Virginia, with some help from Fr. Guy. The other day I managed to track down the arms of the first two bishops of Arlington, the diocese that covers about the northern third of the state. They’re not bad, if you can accept a Latin word on a shield (there are precedents, of course). My own rough-ish emblazonments, mostly clipart.

M. Rev. Thomas Jerome Welsh (1974-83)

The generic Irish arms of Walsh (Argent a chevron Gules between three pheons Sable) with the pheons perhaps inadvertently converted to broad arrowheads and reverse, the bottom one replaced by the crowned word "Humilitas," the motto of St. Charles Borromeo, and a gold spearhead placed on the chevron.

http://americanheraldry.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1320&stc=1&d=1398869497

 

M. Rev. John Richard Keating (1983-98 )

Also apparently based on the generic arms of the name, but with the nettle leaf in chief replaced with an eagle’s head (for the bishop’s namesake, St. John the Evangelist), and the one in base replaced with an anchor, for hope.

http://americanheraldry.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1321&stc=1&d=1398869508

 

The arms of the present bishop, M. Rev. Paul Stephen Loverde, can be seen marshalled with the arms of the diocese at https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/bishop/documents/bishop_coat-of-arms.pdf.