Seán Patrick O'Malley

Religious or Ecclesiastical heraldry portal

This page is part of the Ecclesiastical heraldry portal	Heraldry of the World
Ecclesiastical heraldry per country Catholic heraldry Roman Catholic Arms of Popes Cardinals (2,121) Archdioceses (645) Archbishops (3,473) Dioceses (2,489) Bishops (10,330) Nunciatures (210) and more Armenian Catholic Chaldean Catholic Coptic Catholic Ethiopian Catholic Hungarian Catholic Greek Catholic Maronite Catholic Ruthenian Catholic Syriac Catholic Syro-Malabar Catholic Syro-Malankara Catholic Liberal Catholic Old Catholic Free Catholic	Centre for Ecclesiastical Heraldry : We will help you designing your coat of arms Other Christian churches Anglican Churches Lutheran Churches Orthodox Churches Reformed Churches Unitarianism Other religions Judaism Total pages in the Ecclesiastical section : 19,195 Total images in the Ecclesiastical section : 18,310

SEÁN PATRICK O'MALLEY

Born : June 29, 1944
Deceased :

Bishop of Saint Thomas, 1985–1992
Bishop of Fall River, 1992–2002
Bishop of Palm Beach, 2002–2003
Archbishop of Boston, 2003–present
Cardinal : 2006

Bishop of Fall River

Cardinal

Official blazon

Gules, a ship of three masts, at sail, Or, between three stars Argent; on a chief of the third the arms of the Franciscan Order; upon a Latin cross Sable two arms in saltair, the one to dexter uncovered and the one to sinister habited on the Order of St. Francis, both hands displaying the Stigmata all Proper.

Motto: "QUODCUMQUE DIXERIT FACITE"

The arms impaled in dexter with the arms of the (arch)diocese.

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 three masted sailing ship, at full sail, all in gold, is taken from the crest of the O'Malley "family" arms. This ship is placed amid three silver stars that are taken from the arms of General George Washington, which arms are used as the device of the federal capital city, where the bishop was serving as a priest when he was selected to become a bishop.

The upper portion of the arms show the arms of the Order of St. Francis, (O.F.M. - the Order of Friars Minor) signifying that the bishop is a Capuchin Franciscan. These arms show on a black cross, the crossed arms of Christ and St. Francic, each bearing the Stigmata.

In the arms as a Cardinal two special charges have been added to Bishop O'Malley's design to signify very special honors that he has received. At the center of the processional cross that is an external ornam nt of the design, is the red and gold cross of the medal that signifies that His Excellency was named a Knight Commander of the Order of Prince Herny the Navigator by the government of Portugal in 1974. It is an honor given by the Portuguese government for outstanding service to the Portuguese people.

Additionally, the shield rests upon a Maltese Cross to signify that upon the request of His Eminence, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Washington, James Cardinal Hickey, Chaplain of the Washington Lieutenancy of the Sovereign Militaty Order of Malta, His Excellency, Bishop O'Malley, in 1993, was named Chaplain "Ad honorum" of the order. There is an historical connection of the Knights of Malta with Bishop O'Malley's former diocese since the Knights ruled the Virgin Islands in the 18th Century.

The motto "QUODCUMQUE DIXERIT FACITE" is taken from St John's Gospel, Chapter 2, verse 5, and comes from the Blessed Virgin's statement, at the wedding feast of Cana, Quodcumque dixerit vobis facite, "Do whatever He tells you." This statement by Mary sums up the totality of the human commitment to Christ.

The achievement is completed with the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop/cardinal by instruction of the Holy See, of March 1969, confirmed in March 2001.