Plácido Rodriguez

PLÁCIDO RODRIGUEZ

Born : October 11, 1940
Deceased :

Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, 1983-1994
Bishop of Lubbock, 1994-2016

Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago

Bishop of Lubbock

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 sailboat signifies the faith brought from Europe by Christopher Columbus; the bust symbolizes Our Lady of Guadalupe, under whose patronage the Rodriguez family emigrated to the United States; the palm branches signify martyrdom, representing the persecution of Catholics in Mexico endured by his family and the martyrdom of his personal patron, Saint Placido, a third century Roman who is also patron of Celaya, the bishop's birthplace. The dove signifies the guidance of the Holy Spirit, peace (the meaning of the name Placido), God's justice and holiness.

The bishop's motto, "Caritas Christi Urget Nos," is a Latin phrase from Saint Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 5, verse 14) meaning "The love of Christ impels us." It is also the motto of Saint Anthony of Claret, founder of the Claretians (Congregation of Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, CMF, or, the Claretian Missionaries), to which the bishop belonged.

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