William Edward Koenig

WILLIAM EDWARD KOENIG

Born : August 17, 1956
Deceased :

Bishop of Wilmington, 2021-present

Official blazon

Origin/meaning

As common in US episcopal heraldry, the arms show the arms of the diocese impaled with the personal arms of the bishop.

The lamb is a symbol of Saint Agnes, the patroness of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, where the Bishop grew up and where he has served as a priest since his ordination in 1983.

The wolf is taken as a symbol for the Bishop’s baptismal patron saint, William of Vercelli (also known as William of Montevergine and William the Abbot; 1085-1142). St. William was known to have worked many miracles, the most famous of which was the taming of a wolf. The wolf is depicted here as collared and lined, further stressing his tame nature, yet he keeps watch over the lamb, as a bishop ought to keep close watch over the flock entrusted to his care St. William is also the patron saint of the parish in Seaford, N.Y., where the Bishop first served as a pastor.

At the top of the shield is a dove, representing the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles and the Church. The Bishop served as Director of Vocations from 1989 to 1996, as well as Director of Ministry to Priests from 1990 to 1996. He has included the dove to recall both these ministries, as the Holy Spirit is the source of both the vocation of the priest and of the sacramental character imprinted at a priest’s ordination by the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the laying on of hands.

The ministry of both priest and bishop is further represented by the olive branch sprouting from the base of the shield. It bears seven olives, symbolic of the seven sacraments of the Church. It also alludes to the ministry of a bishop to direct the sacramental life of the diocese, which is symbolized most clearly at the annual Chrism Mass, during which a bishop blesses olive oil and consecrates perfumed olive oil.

Taken together, the various charges on the Bishop’s shield also form a pictorial representation of the prophecy contained in the eleventh chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,” the prophet proclaims, “and a branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isa 11:1).