This from the Boston globe
The pope and a puzzling African king
Another prominent feature of the pope’s new crest has also attracted attention: the picture of the ”African king” facing left on the coat of arms. For one thing, the portrait is practically a caricature of an African male, with exaggerated lips painted ruby red. ”It’s not good,” says Holy Cross professor of religious studies Matthew Schmalz, who has written about the crest for the Catholic magazine Commonweal. There is little doubt why the image of the African king appears on the crest. It symbolizes the Pope’s commitment to rallying Catholic worshipers in Africa, the fastest-growing province of the church. (In June, Benedict said he would summon a special synod of African bishops, the first since 1994.) ”For me, [the African king] is an expression of the universality of the Church,” the then-Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in his 1998 book ”Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977.” He also wrote that he did not know where the African image, which appeared on his coat of arms when he was archbishop of Munich-Freising, came from.
And this from EWTN.
Caput Aethiopum. According to the website of his former Archdiocese:
“The shield, which is divided into three sections, displays the “Moor of Freising.” The Moor’s head, facing left and typically crowned, appeared on the coat of arms of the old principality of Freising as early as 1316, during the reign of the Bishop of Freising, Prince Konrad III, and it remained almost unchanged until the “secularization” of the Church’s estates in that region in 1802-1803. Ever since that time the archbishops of Munich and Freising have included the Caput Aethiopum, the head of an Ethiopian, in their episcopal coat of arms.”
“”It’s not good,” says Holy Cross professor of religious studies Matthew Schmalz, who has written about the crest for the Catholic magazine Commonweal. There is little doubt why the image of the African king appears on the crest. It symbolizes the Pope’s commitment to rallying Catholic worshipers in Africa, the fastest-growing province of the church. (In June, Benedict said he would summon a special synod of African bishops, the first since 1994.) ”For me, [the African king] is an expression of the universality of the Church,”
“It’s not good” he says, then goes on to give a perfectly good reason for its placement.
What can you expect of someone who bears the name “chicken fat?”
Except that the Ethiopian head has no such significance. It appears on the arms of the Bishops of Freising and has done since 1316. Pope Benedict was Bishop of that See back in the 1970’s.
Does the Bear then signify an intention by this Pope to militantly evangelise Russia? Of course not. Again, the Bear has been a component of the arms of Bavaria since Heaven knows when.
Nearly forget about the Scallop shell. Of course this signifies Benedict’s intention to make sea food the only officially allowabel food for Catholics.