James Michael Moynihan

JAMES MICHAEL MOYNIHAN

Born: July 6, 1932
Deceased: March 6, 2017

Bishop of Syracuse, 1995-2009

Official blazon
English	blazon wanted

(personal arms) Argent, a saltire Gules upon a lozenge conjoined at center three tongues of fire Or; to chief a Chi -Rho Vert and to base the monogram of the Blessed Virgin Azure.

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 personal arms are composed of a silver field on which is placed a red saltire with a lozenge at the center. This configuration is taken from the arms of the Bishop's home diocese of Rochester. It also reminds us of the Cross of St. Patrick (silver field with red saltire), which makes up the majority of the arms of the Archdiocese of New York, where Bishop Moynihan was serving as Associate Secretary General of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association when he was selected to receive the fullness of the priesthood, as a bishop, in his appointment to the See of Syracuse.

In the center are three golden tongues of fire, to honor the Most Holy Spirit, which is, and must be, the guide for any devout Christian and especially a cleric of the holy Catholic Church. Receptive to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Moynihan is motivated by the gospel teachings of Jesus Christ, as symbolised by the Chi-Rho in the green of his Irish heritage, and by devotion 'to the Mother of God, as signified by the monogram of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the intertwined "A" and "M" ... "Ave Maria") in the traditional Marian colour of blue.

For his motto he has selected the phrase "SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE." This phrase, taken from St Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 4:2), expresses the Bishop's deep belief and faith that all of us, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, are bound together and are therefore compelled and required to do all that we can to support one another in love.

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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