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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Papal Tiara Commissioned and Gifted to Benedict XVI

by Shawn Tribe

Just a quick note as some of our readers may be interested in this story published by John Sonnen about a papal tiara that was gifted to Pope Benedict XVI , commissioned by Dieter Philippi and crafted by a Bulgarian Orthodox liturgical firm.

The tiara was presented to the pontiff today by Dieter Philippi and a small delegation of Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.


Posted Wednesday, May 25, 2011 Comments (33)

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  • Ioannes Andreades 3 weeks ago
    Go on...see if it fits...just once...No, there's no film in this camera.
  • Raitchi2 3 weeks ago
    What a waste. At least it will look nice on a mantel.
  • Gorgeous! Would have made more sense of the lappets were cloth of gold, but, none-the-less it is a stunning piece perfectly suited for the Vicar of Christ! (Also, notice how Benedict's original coat of arms, complete with mitre and pallium, were embroidered on the back. Simply marvelous).
  • Also, it appears as though this is a near-perfect copy of Pius XI's tiara, albeit with slight variations..
  • Subdeacon Michael 3 weeks ago
    Now there's a hint if ever I saw one!  Some people just don't *do* subtlety, do they?
  • AndyMilam 3 weeks ago
    It is time.  It is time to have a coronation.  It is time to have a traditional papal Mass.  It time.
  • A Sinner 3 weeks ago
    What a ballsy display of passive-aggression!
  • Johannes 3 weeks ago
    Please, no. Hard to see the point of this; the idea of a papal 'coronation' is just so abhorrent and I'm sure the Pope has far more sense. A gift to the Pope's personal charities would have been so much more to the point.
    It is difficult to see how this could ever work from an aesthetic point of view; Benedict is not tall and very slight, so it would simply look ridiculous if he wore it. I think we're all beyond this sort of nonsense now.
  • The polemical argument is irrelevant. The tiara was given to the Pope in the name of Christian unity, so he should wear it in the name of Christian unity. What would better demonstrate the sincerity of his commitment to ecumenism?
  • You've got to be kidding, right?  The involvement of a small group of Eastern Orthodox (who had to be contracted to make the thing because good luck finding a Catholic firm capable of it!) does not exactly make it an ecumenical gesture: that small group does not represent the whole or even the majority of Orthodoxy, and if the pope were to wear it, it would be a definite setback to ecumenism -- an assertion of something that the pope (as one bishop, equal among equals, first in honor, and honor only) hasn't got and never had.
  • I won't get into the question of whether the wearing of the tiara today would be advisable or not, but the Pope is certainly more than "one bishop, equal among equals, first in honor, and honor only" - he is, as the code puts it, "head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ, and the
    pastor of the universal Church on earth. By virtue of his office he possesses
    supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he
    is always able to exercise freely."
  • Not to mention that he is Soveriegn.  He is the King of Vatican City, in a very temporal sense.  If various monarchies are allowed to wear their crown jewels, then so should the Pope.  There is a reason why it is called a TRIRREGNUM...don't you agree?
  • . In past centuries, when the Successor of Peter took
    possession of his See, the triregnum or tiara was placed on his head.
    The last Pope to be crowned was Paul VI in 1963, but after the solemn
    coronation ceremony he never used the tiara again and left his Successors
    free to decide in this regard. Pope John Paul I, whose memory is so vivid in our hearts,
    did not wish to have the tiara; nor does his Successor wish it today. This
    is not the time to return to a ceremony and an object considered, wrongly,
    to be a symbol of the temporal power of the Popes....The Second Vatican Council has reminded us of the mystery of
    this power and of the fact that Christ's mission as Priest, Prophet-Teacher
    and King continues in the Church. Everyone, the whole People of God, shares
    in this threefold mission. Perhaps in the past, the tiara, this triple
    crown, was placed on the Pope's head in order to express by that symbol the
    Lord's plan for his Church, namely that all the hierarchical order of
    Christ's Church, all "sacred power" exercised in the Church, is nothing
    other than service, service with a single purpose: to ensure that the whole
    People of God shares in this threefold mission of Christ and always remains
    under the power of the Lord; a power that has its source not in the powers
    of this world but in the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection.inauguration

     Blessed John PAul II, Homily on his
  • I absolutely disagree with this assessment, except one part....that Paul VI left the possibility open to his successors.

    You can't possibly know the mind of Benedict XVI.  You cannot make the assertation that he wouldn't want it.  You simply don't know that, unless you talked with His Holiness right before you made this post.

    While Vatican Council II did remind us of the threefold mission of the Papacy, the fact that the Pope is a Soverign isn't lost.  It was set aside in a liberal gesture, by a socially liberal Pope.  That act didn't change the nature of the papacy, it changed the view the faithful had of it.  Two entirely different things.

    While the tiara might represent the Lord's plan, to take the symbolism of that plan from the faithful was very reckless on the part of Paul VI, IMHO.  I am sure that most monarchs today view wearing their crown as a symbol of service, so why should the Pope be any different?
  • The
    Pope is not an absolute monarch, whose thought and will are law. On the
    contrary, the Pope's ministry is guarantee of obedience to Christ and
    his word. The Pope must not proclaim his own ideas, but bind himself
    constantly and bind the Church to obedience to the Word of God, in face
    of attempts to adapt and water down, in face, as well, of all
    opportunism.  Benedict XVI, Homily on the Canonical Possession of Saint John LAteran
  • I also disagree...the Holy Father IS an absolute elected monarch.  He is the Soverign of Vatican City State and holdings.

    To deny this is a grave mistake.  While he may not have the same territory that he once did, he is still a King.  If you differ, by all means, go to Vatican City and make that statement offically.  I daresay you'll be expelled pretty fast.
  • Interestingly, while I would have thought the Orthodox might take more issue with it (and I am sure there are those), its rather interesting to me that many of them seem rather neutral. A comment I have seen is that to them, it seems proximate to their Eastern crown form of mitre so they aren't too worked up about it.

    I know there are Eastern Orthodox even here already commenting, as well as others reading. Feel free to interject.
  • "one bishop, equal among equals, first in honor, and honor only..."

    Someone needs to go back to seminary...
  • "equal among equals"...does that even mean anything??? I'd understand first among equals even though that one be wrong.

    It's not even that someone needs to go back to seminary...someone needs to go back to First Communion classes!!

    And for the record...I do NOT think it is advisable that the Pope wear the tiara. "His rule is over space and time, his throne the hearts of men.." The Pope as Vicar of Christ proclaims with Christ...my kingdom is not of this world. He is Pope not by virtue of him being head of the Vatican City State, but as the Shepherd King of Rome.
  • "as one bishop, equal among equals, first in honor, and honor only."

    FATHER, where is this coming from?!
  • I disagree. He is a sovereign and should have a crown.
  • This is truly magnificent!
  • Jpatt91 3 weeks ago
    Hopefully he will use this one day :)
  • Rdrjames 3 weeks ago
    In Orthodox usage, every bishop gets a crown. It is equivalent to the miter in the West. So I don't see why the Pope shouldn't get one too, especially if he were to preside at an Eastern Rite service.
    From what I've read about B16, he does not seem to have 'monarchical' aspirations, any more than the perks he enjoys now.

    Rdr. James
  • When Bl. Pope John XXIII presided at a Byzantine Rite Liturgy, at which all the bishops were wearing their crowns, he wore the tiara. It looked appropriate.
  • Bpbasilphx 3 weeks ago
    During V2, Bl. John XXIII celebrated in the Byzantine rite with Melkite hierarchs.

    He wore Byzantine vestments, except he wore the trigregno instead of the mitra. Alas, he also wore the fanon and western pallium over the sakkos. The other bishops, following Melkite usage, simply wore their klobuki (veiled kamelavka, a monastic headdress).
  • Bl. John Paul II celebrated the Byzantine rite on several occasions, through i think he was always vested as a Latin
  • Collis1983 3 weeks ago
    Why are American's so worried about 'monarchies' like they are some kind of out-dated idea. It may be a point of differentiation to those from the USA, but most of the other english-speaking nations are quite happy and at ease with the idea of a crowned monarch, and the notion of a crowned spiritual 'prince of princes' is't culturally foreign at all. There is nothing wrong with the Pope being a "monarch"- he just has to be a good one in the appropriate way.There are plenty of monarchies all over the world today, who are still crowned, still wear crowns, and still retain the old ceremonial and court positions and dress for occasions, while also maintining a modern approach. E.G. England, Denmark. These did not throw out their traditions willy nilly in some misguided attempt at modernisation and still continue to maintain them even today. This fear of 'monarchy' and the triregnum is misguided and grossly overstated.
  • I dont think the pope should wear the tiara on a regular basis after all it is not a liturgical vestment, however I think it should be incorporated into papal ceremonies, carried in prossesions, present at papal coronations etc. also it should always be present on the papal arms.
  • He functions as Sovereign just as often as he functions as a celebrant.  On those State occasions where it is warranted, he should wear it.

    In those liturgical occasions where it is warranted, he should wear it.
  • Catholic from Asia 3 weeks ago
    Possible compromise:

    1) The tiara is to be worn by the Pope during the entrance procession of the Papal Mass of June 29. In short: he'll actually wear it only once a year. An alternative occasion would be the Urbi et Orbi address and benediction after the Easter Sunday morning Papal Mass. 

    2) For canonizations and the other Solemnities, the tiara is to be carried before him during the entrance and recessional procession and placed on the altar. 

    3) For all other liturgical celebrations and Masses, he will use only the miter. 

    I'd like to see the tiara restored for all the occasions when they were used by pre-V2 popes, but I'm a realist.
  • Maurizio 3 weeks ago
    One hitherto overlooked aspect of the tiara is that it is of priestly origin. The tiara in antiquity was a white, conival priestly headdress and it was associated with the High Priest of the Temple of Jerusalem. So its principal meaning is priestly, not sovereign.
    The crowns were added quite late, the first by Pope Gregory, to affirm the equal status of the Pope with the Emperor. The Imperial tiara, a circlet of gold studded with gems, with two infule or lappets that later developed in the tiara's and mitre's infulae, was thus added round the base of the tiara.
    The tiara is amongst the most ancient insigna of the Pope, possibly preceding Costantine and therefore at least as old as the casula.
    The tiara is really the Pope's mitre, and was worn almost in the same way.

    As others here have remarked, it was certainly not Paul VI that abolished it, in fact its use was foreseen in his instruction for the coronation of the new Pope.
    But now it is political: its abolition was long prepared by certain elements of the Curia and bishpos, who wanted the mitre as a simbol of the episcopal republic to be....
  • Jose J. Lopes 3 weeks ago
    It’s just awful.
     
    The workmanship is amateurish and it’s a direct rip-off of the Pius XI tiara.
     
    It would have been such an important statement and they blew it.
     
    Poor, beautiful, urbane, and gentle Pope Benedict; that they should regard you so cheaply.

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