John Oliver Barres

JOHN OLIVER BARRES

Born : September 20, 1960
Deceased :

Bishop of Allentown, 2009-2017
Bishop of Rockville Centre, 2017-present

Bishop of Allentown

Bishop of Rockville Centre

Official blazon

Barry of six Gules and Argent, an eagle displayed wings inverted, Azure, haloed, beaked and member Or, holding in its talons fess wise the haft of an American woodsman's axe Sable with the blade Argent facing Dexter base, on the eagle's Dexter wing a bezant bearing a dolphin ancient embower Gules, on its sinister wing a bezant bearing a rose seeded and barbed of the last, and on its breast a torte bearing the crossed keys of St. Peter proper.

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 red and silver bars are a canting device recalling the Bishop's family surname, "Barres." The Bishop's immigrant ancestor, Jacob Barres came from Prussia and first settled in Lehigh County in 1852.

The blue eagle with the halo is the symbol of St. John the Evangelist, honoring the Bishop's baptismal name patron. The cross keys symbolically express the Bishop's dedication and fidelity to the See of Peter and to the Most Holy Father, as did the arms of Bishop Barres' predecessor, Bishop Cullen.

The dolphin is taken from the arms of St. John Fisher, and the rose represents St. Thomas More, particularly his chain of office as Lord Chancellor of England. Pope John Paul II, by motu proprio in 2000, declared St. Thomas More, the Patron of Statesmen, Politicians and Lawyers.

Both of these saints, one a prelate and one a layman, were martyrs for the Faith and remained loyal to the Church and the Holy See. Their symbols are depicted in red to indicate their martyrdom. The axe represents President Abraham Lincoln, of whom the Bishop is a great admirer.

For his motto, Bishop Barres uses the phrase "HOLINESS AND MISSION." The Bishop's motto derives from a phrase from the final section of the encyclical Redemptoris Missio written by Pope John Paul II in 1990, titled "The True Missionary is the Saint."

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.