William Terrence McGrattan

WILLIAM TERRENCE MCGRATTAN

Born: 19 September 1956
Deceased:

Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto, 2010-2014
Bishop of Peterborough (Canada), 2014-2017
Bishop of Calgary, 2017-present

Arms (crest) of William Terrence McGrattan

Auxiliary bishop of Toronto

Bishop of Peterborough/Calgary

Official blazon
English	blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

The gold and red from the shield used by St Peter's Seminary, London, Ontario; the red and blue from the arms og the City of London, Ontario.

The keys are found in the coats of arms of the Bishop's home Diocese of London and in the arms used by St Peter's Seminary where he ministered as an educator and served as rector for many years. A key opens a lock and so is a fitting symbol for education and here celebrates the Bishop's role in the training of priests at St Peter's Seminary. Keys are also an attribute of St Peter (Matthew 16.19) and so may be taken to represent the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church . In this instance the wards and the bows have been embellished with the traditional emblem of Ireland, the trefoil or shamrock, and indicates the Bishop's ancestry and heritage. The trefoil is also a symbol for the Holy Trinity.

The lower section is in blue a colour associated with theology and bears a shell. The shell is significant in that it is an emblem of Holy Baptism the sacrament which incorporates one into Christ and his Church and which is the basis of all ministry. As a baptismal symbol it represents the Church's mission. Here it is also a reference to the Bishop's mother as shells are found in many arms associated with the name Power in Ireland. A shell is the main feature of the shield of Pope Benedict XVI who appointed the Bishop to the episcopate. The shell is also the badge of pilgrims and here speaks of the Christian's life journey in faith.

The basket filled with loaves speaks of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Church's highest offering. Bread has ever been a symbol of the means of sustaining life and in the Old Testament it was a symbol of God's providence, care and nurture of his people.(Exodus 16.15) Jesus gave new meaning to this symbolism when he said, "I am the bread of life." (John 6.35) and again at the Last Supper as a reference to his sacrifice.(Luke 22.19). It is also used here as a reflection of the feeding of the great throng of people (Matthew 14.15-21) and so represents the call to compassion, hospitality, outreach, caring, and to what Pope John Paul II spoke of in terms of what the significance of Jesus' action in this instance should mean to bishops and their ministry.

After his transfer to Peterborough the division of the shield has changed slightly.

Religious or Ecclesiastical heraldry portal

This page is part of the Ecclesiastical heraldry portal	Heraldry of the World
Ecclesiastical heraldry per country Catholic heraldry Roman Catholic Arms of Popes Cardinals (2,111) Archdioceses (644) Archbishops (3,371) Dioceses (2,486) Bishops (10,118) Nunciatures (210) and more Armenian Catholic Chaldean Catholic Coptic Catholic Ethiopian Catholic Hungarian Catholic Greek Catholic Maronite Catholic Ruthenian Catholic Syriac Catholic Syro-Malabar Catholic Syro-Malankara Catholic Liberal Catholic Old Catholic Free Catholic	Centre for Ecclesiastical Heraldry : We will help you designing your coat of arms Other Christian churches Anglican Churches Lutheran Churches Orthodox Churches Reformed Churches Unitarianism Other religions Judaism Total pages in the Ecclesiastical section : 18,832 Total images in the Ecclesiastical section : 17,800