Diocese of El Paso

DIOCESE OF EL PASO (Dioecesis Elpasensis)

Country : United States
Denomination : Roman Catholic

Established : 1914

Official blazon

Azure, issuant from a border wavy two inverted piles, each surmounted by a trefoil below a star all argent; on a chief or, an anchor cable of the first.

Origin/meaning

The blue and argent of the main part honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her title of Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the USA. The blue field is a canting element for the first mission established at which is now El Paso, which was called ´Ysleta´ Spanish for ¨Little Island¨. The wavy border also represents the Rio Grande river, at which El Paso is a border city with Ciudad Juarez. Chihuahua, Mexico.

The two piles argent signify the two hills that form the ´pass¨ (El Paso) for which the city is named. Each of the piles is ornamented by a trefoil to honor the patron saint of the cathedral in El Paso, Saint Patrick (from Ireland, trefoils being a symbol for Ireland).

The star represents the Texas Lone Star as well as the North Star, because the city was formerly know as El Paso del Norte.

The anchor is -in changed colors- taken from the arms of pope St. Pius X, who established the diocese of El Paso in 1914.

Arms of Bishops

Anthony Joseph Schuler (1915-1942)
Sidney Matthew Metzger (1942-1978)
Patrick Fernandez Flores (1978-1979)
Raymundo Joseph Peña (1980-1994)
Armando Xavier Ochoa (1996-2011)
Mark Joseph Seitz (2013-present)

Arms of Auxiliary Bishops

Anthony Cerdan Celino (2023-present)

Literature: diocesan website, 2011

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