Germans present Pope Benedict with his own papal crown
By David Kerr
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Milka Botcheva and Dieter Philippi display Pope Benedict's tiara.

Vatican City, May 25, 2011 / 07:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI did not have a papal tiara until today. At the May 25 General Audience he was presented with one by the Catholics of his native Germany.

The man behind the project, Dieter Philippi, met with CNA before the handover ceremony.

“Well, we thought how every Pope in the past had a tiara. Even John Paul II had one. That was a present from Hungarian Catholics given to him in 1981. So we thought about making a tiara from German Catholics to hand over to the present Pope.”

Dieter is from Kirkel in the Saarland region of western Germany. By day he’s a chief executive of a telecommunications company. In his spare time, though, he’s an avid collector of religious headgear. In fact, he now has over 500 hats from numerous world religions.

And it was Dieter who commissioned the tiara from a workshop in the Bulgarian capital of Sophia.

“They specialize in Orthodox vestments and Orthodox mitres. So they have the knowledge and skill to make a tiara, because in other countries it’s now very difficult to find craftsmen and women with the knowledge of how to make a tiara. That’s because it takes such specialist skills.”

The metal used is a mixture of zinc, silver and brass. This made it very malleable when sculpting fine detail. The stones used are semi-precious.

Milka Botcheva, who was part of the team that worked on the project, explained, “When we were working on it we never expected it would come this far, that it would come to Vatican.”

“So I’m proud of all of us, all the team. I believe this really is a miracle,” she said.

The papal tiara was worn by Popes at their coronation between the 14th and 20th centuries. The last Pope to have a coronation was Pope Paul VI, in 1963.

It seems there’s no absolute certainty about the symbolism but during papal coronations the following words were uttered as the tiara was placed on the Pope’s head:

“Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the World, Vicar of Our Savior Jesus Christ on earth, to whom is honor and glory in the ages of ages.”

Pope Benedict, of course, didn’t undergo a coronation. Neither does he have the tiara on his papal coat of arms. Dieter Philippi, though, would like to see some of the traditions surrounding the papal tiara revived.

“I think nowadays it would be very difficult because people wouldn’t understand the symbolism of a coronation … But from my personal view I would be very happy if we had a Pope who was crowned again like a king or a queen of any other country, yes.”

His more immediate concern is to find a home for the new papal tiara. There’s a possibility it might be put on display in at the birthplace of Pope Benedict—Marktl am Inn in Bavaria.

As for what Dieter planned to say to the Pope today?

“I will tell him that I’m very, very happy that I had the chance to hand the tiara over to him and that I’m very happy that a German Pope gets a tiara from the German Catholics.”

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  • Conde de Trasamara 1 week ago
    Hope that one day Popes return to this ancient tradition that is so symbolic for our Faith.
    Dom.Virgilio Antonio Cardoso de Castro-Xeres
    Conde de Trasamara
  • Beautiful gesture on the part of the German people.  If you notice thought, Pope Benedict even removed the tiarra from his Papal Coat of Arms in favor of the Bishop's mitre with the appropriate tri-linear markings.
  • Artagnan 2 weeks ago
    The United Kingdom is the only Western monarchy who has a coronation service.

    In Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg and Monaco there is a civil Investiture, eventually followed by a religious service. In Denmark there is no any Investiture at all: there the new Sovereign is proclaimed by the Prime Minister from the palace balcony and that is it.
  • K Simpson 2 weeks ago
    OBSCENE...!
  • Father Gary Carr 2 weeks ago
    This beautiful,sacred tradition needs to be restored as soon as possible, as well as all Sacred Traditions wrongly lost right before or after Vatican II. Benedict XVI can begin wearing the Tiara at any time, which indicates the Pope's sworn duty to  protect, defend and hand-on the Deposit of Faith which comes to us from Jesus Christ through His Apostles to His One, True Church.Keep in mind that shortly after Pope Benedict's elevation to the throne of St. Peter, the tiara reappeared on the head of the statue of St. Peter in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.

    Father Gary Carr
    Diocesan Priest
  • Richard Grand 2 weeks ago
    It's unlikely that he will wear it. Outside the Vatican, he is not a temporal ruler, which is the meaning of the triple tiara. It signifies his rule above all other rulers and over them, but few monarchies survive and even fewer Roman Catholic ones.
  • Gespino 3 weeks ago
    I wish the coronation tradition would be restored after all it only reflects eternal truths and is totally appropriate. The discontinuation of the ceremony is part of the devastating post-conciliar damage imposed upon the church!
  • Teresa Joseph 3 weeks ago
    Hope he will never wear it !!!! It is not a good idea give that !!!
  • Roderick Alvernaz 3 weeks ago
    Would be nice if it were at least carried in procession when the Pope was celebrating Mass.
  • Jpfhays1953 3 weeks ago
    Do not wear it!
  • Please, recognize a Pope's right to wear it on at least a few occasions. We do not see it as a sign of worldly power, but as a representation of what Jesus gave to Peter.
  • How very appropriate that this occurred on the Feast of Gregory VII in the Traditional calendar, who was a great defender of the papacy.  I do hope Pope Benedict will be courageous in proclaiming the unique and exclusive claims of this office created directly and personally by the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Randy Gritter 3 weeks ago
    I doubt he wants to wear it. He has been very willing to wear just about anything his liturgical advisers ask him to wear. Just a question of whether the tiara becomes part of their thinking. My guess is the church has many storage rooms full of gifts popes received over the years.
  • Francis 3 weeks ago
    Very nice! I hope that His Holiness will wear this tiara, or any tiara for that matter very soon. Unfortunately it is my opinion that this nice tiara will end up in some closet inside the Vatican somewhere. I hope that I'm wrong about that and he wears it.
  • Wear it!
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