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latimes.com Opinion LA blog

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What’s the miter?

 

As I mentioned in a recent post, a lot is being made—too much, I think—of the fact that all five Supreme Court justices in the majority in the "partial-birth" abortion case are Catholics. Predictably, at least one editorial cartoonist was unable to resist the temptation to portray the Catholic five as wearing bishops’ miters. Equally predictably, the head of the Catholic League has jumped on the cartoon.

 

What was interesting to this former altar boy was that the Catholic League described the miter as a “papal hat.” Yes, the pope can be seen wearing a miter (though not the skyscraper model that went out of fashion after Vatican II). But the miter is not a peculiarly papal chapeau. It is worn by every Catholic bishop—not to mention Anglican ones.

 

The distinctive papal hat is the bejeweled tiara or "triple crown" that was retired when Pope John Paul I simplified what used to be called the papal "coronation." The tiara hung on in papal heraldry for a while after that, but in Benedict XVI’s coat of arms it has been replaced by the relatively humble miter.

 

Conservative Catholics, who are eagerly awaiting an order by Benedict permitting wider use of the Latin Mass, would love to see the tiara make a comeback, too. So, I suspect, would editorial cartoonists.

Hi Mike. This writer is not exactly dead on in his facts. Fr. Guy can correct me where I am wrong, and I think I’ll just drop Fr. Archer a line as well, but the tiara was never retired en mase. Neither was the coronation, which JPII himself said he wanted to see continued with his eventual successors.

So, while heterodoxical Catholics would like to see all Catholic tradition go the way of the dinosaur, like the “skyscraper model mitres” mentioned in the article, which by the by are not gone as a result of VCII either, but let’s not let such facts get in the way of things, the fact is that while some of these “t”raditions (small “t” intentional) may go they also may in fact come back. Small “t” traditions are in fact not essential matters of the faith, but they are very important to many Catholics, and they can be changed.

The mitre is very important to me because of what it represents and I don’t want to see it used in a vulgar manner as this cartoon – those disgusting anti-Catholic cartoons of the Know Nothing establishment of the 19th century where it was depicted as the jaws of Protestant and American hungry alligators getting off boats from Ireland and Germany come to mind with such despicable dispalys. What would we think of we did the same to the Jews or the Muslims if there were 5 of nine members of the High Court who were Jews or Muslims? Just as it is and would be offensive to them it is for a Catholic. The fact is that sort of thing is offensive period. The papal tiara is just as important. And to see it treated poorly is also despicable.

And now bringing this back to heraldry it is very important in the struggle within the Church as it represents more than the temporal crown of a sovereign of a state. It represents tradition, continuity, authority, primacy, etc. to many of us regardless of whether it is in fact meant to be any of those. There are people who claim to be Catholic by their words but their actions speak to the contrary and these are the people who are most excited about the removal of the tiara from HH arms. I am waiting to hear them clamor for its removal from the Vatican State’s arms as well! And it is coming.

And mark my words … the removal of the papal tiara from the arms is the first step in the eyes of those who also want to do away with Peter’s Keys, which is a very, very serious thing. This is the same group who wants the Church to be so decentralized as to loose all sense of unity in favor of local diversity, which as we’ve seen in other Churches is most certainly not what this Catholic boy wants to see happen to his Church.

For Catholic in particular symbols really do mean things and the casual disregard for them is very troubling indeed…heraldic or not.

The triple tiara is still part of the arms and insignia of the Vatican as you wrote. I think in time the present pope will return to using it in his arms. He did have sound political reasons to make the change to a mitre at the start of his reign. You are deceiving yourself if you think that your average Catholic can even identify all the figures in the stain glass windows or know why there is an eagle on the lectern, or what the sacred monograms represent. The coronation will never be revived as it once was performed. Too many of the former officials who participated in it have had their offices abolished under Paul VI.

Dear Friends,

I have to point out that was pope Paul VI, not John Paul I, to abolish the use of the tiara, a symbol more secular than religious. Paul VI was the last Pope to be crowned with it (June 30, 1963), but not only sold the one received as gift from his former diocese of Milan, to distribute the proceeds to the poor people; in 1968 suppressed also the office and the name of the "Custode dei sacri triregni" (Keeper of the sacred triple crowns).

The Apostolic Constitution “Romano Pontifici eligendo” (October 1st, 1975) is very lapidary about the coronation. The last provision is: "92. Pontifex demum per Cardinalem Protodiaconum coronatur et, intra congruum tempus, Patriarchalis Archibasilicae Lateranensis possessionem ritu praescripto capit" (92. Then the Pope is crowned by the First of Deacon Cardinals and, in a suitable time, takes possession of the Lateran Patriarchal Archbasilica with the prescribed rite).

Ciao!

Guido

Hi Dave,

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The triple tiara is still part of the arms and insignia of the Vatican as you wrote. I think in time the present pope will return to using it in his arms.

I hope so.

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You are deceiving yourself if you think that your average Catholic can even identify all the figures in the stain glass windows or know why there is an eagle on the lectern, or what the sacred monograms represent.

Maybe. But, there are many of us who do and these people are not necessarily what I’d call heraldic people. Yet, they still know the difference between appreciation of our symbols and the devaluing/destruction of them and what impetus is behind such things. I think in the case of the tiara turned quasi-mitre many average Catholics will know in that it has been hyped up so much by a press that loves nothing more than the decentralization of the Church. I can remember on the old Al Kresta forum (a Catholic Family Radio hold over that finally went belly up) many of the people were talking about it there and even at Catholic Answers forum. So, with as much media exposure that the move got I think the average Catholic was aware of it. Now as for the symbols of the Evangelists or saints, or even scenes, in stained glass windows I think you are probably more than right…sadly. Still the average Catholic would know what it meant to remove such things in favor of plain look through windows. So there is some idea of the importance of symbols for even the average Catholic.

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The coronation will never be revived as it once was performed. Too many of the former officials who participated in it have had their offices abolished under Paul VI.

Fair enough. However, JPII did write saying he wanted to see it continue on with his successors. I wonder how hard it would be to have a new, modified coronation ceremony take place? I mean, Benedict XVI sent minor shock waves through the world when he had his mass in the chapel said entirely in Latin. In fact while watching it on EWTN I found it strange that so many Cardinals of the Church had to have books on what was going on that they were looking over while it was happening…or so that’s what the English announcer said IIRC. So, I think there might be some way to make it work again. But, I am inclined to think it might not.