Joseph Nunzio Latino

JOSEPH NUNZIO LATINO

Born : October 21, 1937
Deceased :

Bishop of Jackson, 2003-2013

Official blazon

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 gold and red vertical bars in the top and bottom and silver fields on either side, these are the ancient arms of the Kingdom of Sicily, used here to reflect Bishop Latino’s Sicilian heritage.

In the base the gold bars have been replaced by a golden carpenter’s square, issuant from the sides, to honor the bishop’s baptismal patron, St. Joseph. This arrangement is used in the arms of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux where Bishop Latino was serving as vicar general when he was called to be Bishop of Jackson.

In the silver fields on either side of the design, the black displayed eagles of the Sicilian arms have been replaced by a blue fleur-de-lis and a blue magnolia blossom to reflect the heritage that has come to the bishop from New Orleans, where the bishop was born, and the surrounding region.

For his motto, Bishop Latino has selected the phrase “UT UNUM SINT,” which is Latin for “That all may be one.” This phrase, taken from St. John’s Gospel (John 17:11) expresses Bishop Latino’s profound belief that as each of us in one in Christ by our baptism, so may we all be one in the brotherhood of belief in him who came to save the world.

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.