While coats of arms hardly play a role in society any more,
they are still present in the Catholic Church.
It is common for popes
and bishops, as well as other clerics and church institutions, to bear a
coat of arms. In doing so, they often want to say something about their
vocation or the Christian faith.
However, heraldry no longer plays a
role for all senior pastors and they do without their own coat of arms.
The Italian priest Antonio Pompili is a recognised expert in the field
of ecclesiastical heraldry.
The priest of a parish in Rome and biblical
scholar has co-edited a heraldic reference book. He has already designed
coats of arms for many bishops and parishes.
In an interview with
katholisch.de, Mr Pompili explains the current status of heraldry in the
Church.
Question: Mr Pompili, you are an expert in the field of
ecclesiastical heraldry and have published a standard work on the
subject. What significance does heraldry have in the Catholic Church
today?
Pompili: In recent decades,
interest in heraldry has grown more strongly than it has for a long
time. This is undoubtedly due to the scientific value of heraldic
studies during this period. For ecclesiastical heraldry, the work of
Archbishop Bruno Bernhard Heim (1911-2003) deserves special mention.
Heim was an important heraldic artist who designed hundreds of coats of
arms for bishops and ecclesiastical bodies. He was rightly regarded as
the highest heraldic authority of the Catholic Church.
After Heim's
death, Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (1925-2017), whose
student I had the honour of being, took over this role to a certain
extent. Together with him, I wrote a handbook on ecclesiastical heraldry in 2014.
The work has been translated into several languages.
In this book, we
endeavoured to present guidelines for understanding heraldry in the
Catholic Church and to demonstrate its relevance and potential. This is
because the use of coats of arms in the Church is of great value because
they are signs of recognition - a system of communication, so to speak,
that can be very useful.
Various theological, spiritual and pastoral
messages can be conveyed through a coat of arms that is properly
composed and artistically well presented.
Question: What was your personal path to ecclesiastical heraldry?
Pompili: I started studying this specialised
field around 30 years ago when I found a heraldry textbook by chance. At
the time, I was at the beginning of my training as a priest.
During my
stay in Rome, I had a lot of opportunity to see coats of arms from every
era - including and especially ecclesiastical coats of arms. So I began
to study heraldry "on the spot", photographed coats of arms, catalogued
them, compared them and finally redesigned them.
And I tried my hand at
reading heraldic texts, both general works and specialised studies. I
learnt a lot from studying medieval and modern coats of arms. In
addition, my attendance at the School of Genealogy and Heraldry of the
Italian Genealogical-Heraldic Institute was fundamental for my training
in heraldry.
In the early 2000s, I met Cardinal di Montezemolo, from
whom I learnt a lot. His vision of heraldry was strongly rooted in
tradition, but at the same time modern and open to innovation.
At that
time, I had also been drawing bishops' coats of arms for some time.
Today, I have designed more than 200 ecclesiastical coats of arms for
people and institutions.
Question: As pontiff, Pope Francis is rather modest and has
broken with certain traditions, such as the red shoes worn by popes.
What is the status of ecclesiastical heraldry under this pope?
Pompili: Simplicity is one of Pope Francis
' most beautiful characteristics and he is greatly appreciated for this
virtue. Heraldry itself must also be characterised by simplicity. The
simplest coats of arms are also the most beautiful and they are easier
to read.
The first coats of arms in the Middle Ages were very simple:
they usually showed one or two colours, one or two figures. This was not
always the case with ecclesiastical heraldry.
In 1969, during the
pontificate of Pope Paul VI (1963-78), the Instruction on the Clothing,
Titles and Coats of Arms of Cardinals, Bishops and Prelates was issued
in order to restore clarity to heraldry. This document stipulates the
following: "The use of coats of arms by cardinals and bishops is
authorised.
The coat of arms must comply with heraldic rules and be
simple and legible." Unfortunately, shields saturated with figures are
still being created today, in which many theological and religious
statements are to be made. But the clients are usually not to blame.
Rather, the responsibility lies with the "artists", who are unable to
give good advice due to a lack of heraldic knowledge.
Heraldry must, of
course, move with the times - but this should not mean a break with
tradition.
Often the real innovation is the rediscovery of the values
and patterns of the origins.
Question: Heraldry is also described as a language of its own
that wants to say something important. Is the language of heraldry up
to date?
Pompili: The handbook that Cardinal di
Montezemolo and I wrote emphasises this point: heraldry is a language.
And if you decide to speak this language, you have to speak it
correctly, otherwise it's better to stay away from it.
Like any
language, heraldry
has a vocabulary, a grammar and a syntax. And like any language, it
must evolve and be able to find ever more up-to-date forms of
expression, true to its rules. There is a good development here,
although "linguistic errors" are unfortunately still widespread.
Sometimes, due to uncritical attempts at imitation, mistakes are
repeated that are better avoided. Some heraldists (or people who are
convinced that they are) close their minds to the past in nostalgic
regret without opening up to new solutions.
Question: What do the coats of arms in the church say about the church today?
Pompili: As far as I can see, the coats of arms of the Church
today are an expression of a Church that wants to enter into dialogue
with the people of our time, in line with the teachings of the Second
Vatican Council (1962-1965).
In coats of arms, religious symbols and
figures are often placed side by side, recalling a wide variety of local
cultures and customs. This can sometimes be tiring.
But I also notice a
certain creativity that needs to be preserved and channelled.
Question: Bishops don't always stick to traditional or established rules when creating coats of arms. Is that a problem?
Pompili: Yes, it is a problem.
Unfortunately,
some bishops, often on the advice of bad heraldists, do not follow the
rules of heraldry and do not refer to a true heraldic spirit when
designing their coats of arms.
Innovation is always necessary, but
always on the basis of precise rules and a peculiar style.
The results
are there for all to see: we see ugly coats of arms, either because they
are badly composed or because they are incorrectly designed.
The
opportunity to convey a correct message through the language of symbols
is unfortunately lost.
Question: Are there too many uncontrolled designs in church coats of arms these days?
Pompili: I wouldn't say there are too many. Of
course you see terrible designs everywhere, others are of poor
compositional and representational quality, but still acceptable. Still
others are good designs, but only a few are of excellent quality.
It
would be desirable to create a heraldic office of the Holy See that
could advise on and control the creation of new coats of arms. This
existed in the past. If it were reintroduced, excesses could at least be
partially avoided.
Question: You also design coats of arms for parishes and
clergy yourself. How have the requirements changed here, who commissions
you?
Pompili: I have received commissions to create coats of arms
from representatives of all levels of the Catholic hierarchy.
In
addition, I am often asked by bishops to create coats of arms for their
diocese or cathedral. I am also commissioned by parish priests and
rectors of basilicas and shrines to create coats of arms for their
churches.
There is a strong revival of interest in these latter types of
coats of arms. Cardinals, bishops and ordinary priests usually want to
refer to elements in their heraldic compositions that recall their
history and training.
Sometimes there is a desire for "talking coats of
arms", i.e. coats of arms that contain symbols that are the same as a
family name or place name.
In most cases, my clients want to show some
kind of summary of their spiritual values or pastoral programme in the
coat of arms.
Question: Nowadays, not all bishops have a coat of arms - even some cardinals do without one. Do you regret that?
Pompili: Not all bishops or cardinals use a
coat of arms today, even if we are only talking about a small
percentage.
This is a legitimate decision, as a coat of arms is not
obligatory according to the Vatican's instruction of 1969.
Of course, I
wouldn't advise any bishop to do without their own coat of arms.
But it is better not to use a coat of arms than to use a badly designed one.
Question: Could we even see the abolition of coats of arms in the Church in the future?
Pompili: Heraldry is a human phenomenon.
Like
everything human, it has a beginning and will certainly come to an end
one day.
But I think the day of the end of ecclesiastical heraldry is
still a long way off.
Perhaps one day other symbols will prevail instead
of the use of coats of arms.
But it has to be said: Heraldry in the
Catholic Church is not in crisis - and I don't think it will be
abolished.