Correct the Arms

From Fr Mark Turnham Elvins OFM Cap SIR – I would like to put in a plea for the correct representation of the arms of the new Archbishop of Westminster. He already has arms granted to him as Archbishop of Birmingham, but these are personal arms. The problem lies with the arms of the see of Westminster which are normally impaled (put side by side) with the personal arms of the archbishop.
In 1893 Cardinal Herbert Vaughan was desirous of having arms for his Diocese of Westminster, and was advised to have the same arms as Canterbury, but with the field changed to red instead of blue, in commemoration of the English martyrs. He thus petitioned Rome and on June 30 1894 Pope Leo XIII granted him the said arms for his diocese. The problem was that a Catholic diocese, in law, was not a corporation sole and therefore could not be granted arms. The arms of Catholic bishops, when lawfully borne, are therefore confined personal arms. There is however legal argument, put forward by a barrister, that Catholic dioceses are indeed corporations sole but this needs to be given a test case. The succession of the new Archbishop would present an ideal opportunity.
Some have complained that the arms granted to the Diocese of Westminster would look the same as Canterbury in monochrome, but if cross-hatching was employed a distinction could be made. Red is shown by vertical lines and blue by horizontal ones. What is not acceptable practice is to tinker with arms granted by Pope Leo XIII, as arms when granted by a reigning sovereign can only be changed by a regrant.
Thus the late Archbishop Bruno Heim, who should have known better, had no right to change the head of the pastoral staff into a fleur de lys. What is worse is that in Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor’s arms the pastoral staff was completely removed. The use of the arms granted by Pope Leo demands that they be shown intact, with the pastoral staff behind the pallium, or dropped altogether.
Yours faithfully, MARK TURNHAM ELVINS By email