The Coat of Arms

  The Coat of Arms of the Most Reverend Michael George McGovern The Roman Catholic Church has long used heraldry for authenticating seals and marking times and deeds of its shepherds. The shield’s unique design is meant to identify and distinguish persons, churches, and corporate bodies from one another without confusion, but as to its design the Church imposes no demands. Instead, in ecclesiastical heraldry, She concerns herself with the external elements outside of the shield that determine the rank of a person within the Church. The external elements of Archbishop McGovern are those of a metropolitan archbishop. The essential element is an archepiscopal cross with its double-transverse bars denoting an archbishop instead of the single crossbar for a bishop. Sometimes confused with a processional cross, the episcopal cross predated the crosier as the pastoral symbol for bishops. Next is the galero, or clerical hat. The ancient color associated with bishops is green, and descending from the galero are twenty tassels for the rank of archbishop. Archbishop McGovern’s personal coat of arms are impaled with the arms of the Archdiocese of Omaha. Impalement is often used to show a married couple with both arms united into one, here symbolizing that the bishop is “wedded” to his see. In ecclesiastical heraldry, the see always takes the place of honor on the right (dexter, the viewer’s left). The armorial bearings for Archdiocese of Omaha are made up of a green field (vert) with a wavy band of white through its middle (a fess argent) and a black cross overall (a cross sable). The green field quartered by the cross resembles the Great Plains of northeastern Nebraska and the division of Midwestern farmland. The wavy silver band symbolizes the Mississippi River, over which the archepiscopal see sits. Lastly, the cross is the principal sign of Christian life, extending to every corner of the pastoral territory. Archbishop McGovern assumed a coat of arms when ordained as bishop of the Diocese of Belleville in 2020. The personal arms were designed with the help of Rev. Guy Selvester of the Diocese of Metuchen. His coat of arms seen on the left (sinister, the viewer’s right) combines symbols that are meaningful to the archbishop reflecting his spiritual life and priestly ministry. The field is red, a color associated with the Passion of the Lord and the Holy Spirit. The life and ministry of a priest and bishop are rooted in the Paschal sacrifice of Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit. The main charge, a silver (white) pelican in its piety, symbolizes the discipleship to Christ. It depicts a pelican slicing its own breast (vulning) in order to feed its young with its own blood. This dates to a medieval Christian legend in which pelican chicks would die and the pelican’s blood would raise them from the dead. This is clearly an image of the self-sacrifice of Christ for His Church, continuing to nourish Her through the Holy Eucharist. Below the pelican is a gold crescent moon which is a symbol of Our Lady under her title of the Immaculate Conception, the patroness of the United States of America. Above the pelican are two gold fleurs-de-lis which, also associated with Our Lady, and taken from the Archdiocese of Chicago’s coat of arms where Bishop McGovern served as a priest prior to becoming a bishop. The motto below the shield is, “Vos Autem Dixi Amicos,” taken from John 15:15. Jesus says to His disciples, “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” This, too, is an allusion to the fellowship of discipleship which Jesus gives to all people. Heraldic achievement executed by Rev. Pachomius Meade, OSB, a Benedictine monk of Conception Abbey; Archbishop McGovern’s coat of arms designed by Rev. Guy Selvester of the Diocese of Metuchen.