Francis Frederick Reh

FRANCIS FREDERICK REH

Born : January 9, 1911 in New York City, New York, USA
Deceased : November 14, 1994 in Saginaw, Michigan, USA

Bishop of Charleston, 1962-1964
Titular Bishop of Macriana in Mauritania, 1964-1968
Bishop of Saginaw, 1968-1980

Bishop of Charleston

Bishop of Saginaw

Official blazon

(Charleston) Impaled: Dexter: Per bend or and gules, on a bend argent three crosses moline sable, on a chief of the second a lion passant guardant of the first langued of the second (See of Charleston); Sinister: Azure, a stag's head caboshed or, between the antlers an Orsini rose of the same, two lilies in base argent (Reh)
(Saginaw)

Motto: Credam firmius

Origin/meaning

As common in US episcopal heraldry, the arms show the arms of the diocese impaled with the personal arms of the bishop.

The Reh family is of German origin. The deer head symbolises the (German)name of the bishop (reh=roe deer) and the lily is for Our Lady, patroness of the Pontifical North American College in Rome where bishop Reh studied and was ordained priest and where he later served and vicerector and rector. The lily is also a symbol of Saint-Joseph and has further significance to bishop Reh, who as a professor at Saint-Josephs Seminary in New York and later as rector there, took an important role in educating priests.

The gold Orsini Rose between the antlers is derived from the coat of arms of the Italian Orsini family, who built and founded a convent on the Via dell´Umilta, later established as the Pontifical North American College by the USA-hierarchy in 1859.

The motto is probably taken from a prayer composed by Pope Clemens XI.

The achievement is completed with the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop by instruction of the Holy See, of March 1969, confirmed in March 2001.