Archdiocese of Santa Fe

ARCHDIOCESE OF SANTA FE (Archidioecesis Sanctae Fidei in America Septentrionali)

For the former Argentine Archdiocese with the same name (1934-1992), see Archdiocese of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz.

Country : United States
Denomination : Roman Catholic

Established : 1850 as Apostolic Vicariate of New Mexico
Elevated 1853 to Diocese of Santa Fe
Elevated 1855 to Archdiocese of Santa Fe

Official blazon

Origin/meaning

The arms are composed of a red field on which is displayed a gold cross of "The Faith," to signify the name of the See city, "Holy Faith". The upper left quarter shows a tower triple towered, of Castile (referring to Spain).

Issuant from the base are the crossed arms of Christ and St. Francis of Assisi, a classic representation of St.Francis, to honor the titular of the Cathedral in the City of Santa Fe.

The red and gold are traditional Spanish colors, signifying that the area around Santa Fe was, for a long time, a Spanish Colony.

The archdiocesan coat of arms were originally designed by the herbalist Pierre Chaignon de la Rose in 1920 at the request of Archbishop Daeger. The original colors were red and gold. That design was changed to make the crossed arms of Christ and St. Francis in their proper colors in 1998, after Archbishop Sheehan arrived in 1993.

The arms of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi are based on the diocesan arms:

The arms of the Basilica

The arms near the cathedral
(Image by David Commini)

Arms of Archbishops

Jean Baptiste Lamy (1850-1885)
Jean-Baptiste Salpointe (1885-1894)
Placide-Louis Chapelle (1894-1897)
Peter Bourgade (1899-1908)
John Baptist Pitaval (1909-1918)
Albert Daeger (1919-1932)
Rudolph Aloysius Gerken (1933-1943)
Edwin Byrne (1943-1963)
James Peter Davis (1964-1974)
Robert Fortune Sanchez (1974-1993)
Michael Jarboe Sheehan (1993-2015)
John Charles Wester (2015-present)

Arms of Auxiliary bishops

John Baptist Pitaval (1902-1909)
Sidney Matthew Metzger (1939-1941)

Literature:

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