Clarence Richard Silva

CLARENCE RICHARD SILVA

Born : August 6, 1949
Deceased :

Bishop of Honolulu, 2005-present

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.

Silva means forest in Portuguese, Bishop Larry Silva's ethnicity. Therefore, his crest is composed of three trees:
The tree on the left is the oak, symbolizing Oakland, the diocese in which Bishop Silva's faith was nurtured and where he served as a priest for 30 years.
The center tree is the cross, the tree of life. It's leaves are olive leaves, symbolizing Our Lady of Peace, the patroness of the Diocese of Honolulu, under which whose protection Bishop Silva entrusts his episcopal ministry. The name "Honolulu" means "peaceful Harbor."

The trees growing out of an island on a blue background symbolizes the Pacific Ocean, which surrounds the Hawaiian Islands and touches the shores of California. "Pacific" also means "peaceful," thus also referring to the bishop as theservant of the Prince of Peace.

The motto is found in the Book of Revelation 19:10 and chosen as a reminder that all programs, administrative functions and acitivities of the church are for one purpose only: to give witness to the risen and living Lord Jesus.

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.

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