COAT OF ARM OF MOST REV. MICHELLE KALU UKPONG, BISHOP OF UMUAHIA DIOCESE

**COAT OF ARMS OF MOST REV. MICHAEL KALU UKPONG, BISHOP OF UMUAHIA**

The Coat of Arms is made up of a T broad-brimmed hat called galero( from the latin word galerum) with tessellated strings. It was a hat worn by Catholic clergy in the past, though few still wear it occasionally in our days. Scarlet galero was restricted to the use of cardinals. In fact, when creating a cardinal, the pope used to place a scarlet galero on the head of the new cardinal in consistory, which gave the ceremony the name “receiving the red hat”. The official or formal giving of the galero in consistory was abolished in 1969 by the Papal decree ‘Utsive sollicite’. Archbishops and Bishops wore green galero , black for Priests and violet for Abbots and major Superiors of Religious Congregations. The colour of the hat therefore depicts the rank of the wearer, customarily with a defined number of tassels that increases with rank. Six tassels for Bishops. Ten for Archbishops and fifteen for Cardinals. The galero and its tassels is the common feature of most episcopacy heraldry. The shield is the choice of the designer, so also are its charges(ie the figures on the shield) , the choice of the owner.

According to Most Rev. Dr. Michael Kalu Ukpong, “the shield has the shape of the heart, the power house of the body and the symbol of love. The colour is blue , the colour of a cloudless heaven /sky and also the colour of the Blessed Virgin Mary , our Mother. In prayers, we lift our hearts to the Lord, who dwells in the heavens.

My appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Umuahia took place in the Marian month of May , 2020 and it was officially announced on the eve of Pentecost Sunday 2020.Therefore, my episcopate is entrusted to the leadership of the Holy Spirit (represented by the descending dove), under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church.

**Scio*** ***Cui*** ***Credidi** - The heart is supported by a red half shield which has on each side a cultural feature common to all the geographical jurisdiction of Umuahia Diocese. They are: ‘okpuagu’ on one side and a tuber of yam on the other side. ‘Okpuagu’ (a close-fitting hat , woven with white, black and red stripes) which is widely worn by Igbos as a sign of bravery and the tuber of yam which has iron digger behind it. Apart from the fact that yam is a major and celebrated food crop of the geographical location of Umuahia, the combination with the iron digger, makes it a prayer of supplication: ‘that we may plant and live to harvest what we planted’.

Through these symbols ,I have taken God by His words believing that He will continue to sustain me in my episcopal ministry. The Igbo adage –“Chi nyere nwanta ji awom, ga-enye ya mbazu o ji egwu ya” aptly correlates with my episcopal motto-“***Scio*** ***Cui*** ***Credidi***”, meaning –“I know whom I have believed(and I am sure that He is able to guard me until that day what He has entrusted to me”(2 Timothy 1:12).

+Michael Kalu Ukpong

Bishop of Umuahia