Catholic Cardinal of Sydney

Narrative for the Coat of Arms of Cardinal George Pell
Eighth Cardinal of Sydney

The Blazon of Cardinal Pell's Arms, as used in the Archdiocese of Sydney is:

The Catholic See of Sydney (Azure on a cross argent four mullets of eight gules); impaling gules a pelican in her piety with two young in the nest, all proper; in chief: dexter a sun in his splendour or, sinister the monogram "MA" ensigned with a coronet both or. The motto is "Be Not Afraid."

The tradition of the Archbishops of Sydney using the Arms of the See in conjunction with their personal arms in the customary manner goes back to the time of Cardinal Moran (1884-1911).

The Pelican in her Piety is a traditional eucharistic emblem, based on the medieval legend that the pelican would feed its young with blood from its own breast which it would lacerate with its beak - a symbol of Christ feeding us with his own flesh and blood. The pelican is also a traditional emblem of the Pell family.

The Sun in his Splendour is a traditional emblem of St Thomas Aquinas, and serves as a reference to Aquinas College Ballarat (now the Aquinas Campus of Australian Catholic University), where Cardinal Pell served as Director from 1974 to 1984. It is also a eucharistic emblem.

The monogram MA, with the coronet, is a traditional symbol of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The motto "Be Not Afraid" echoes our Lord's words to the disciples in the Gospel (see Mt: 14:27; Mk: 6:50; Jn: 6:20), and refers to John Paul II's first homily as pope (2 November 1978).

Cardinal Pell's arms differ from those he used in Melbourne, where he did not use the arms of the See. The background, or Field, of the shield was gules impaled azure-half red, half blue-and four stars representing the Southern Cross appeared above the pelican. As the stars in the arms of the See of Sydney represent the Southern Cross, and as the field of those See arms is azure, the Cardinal decided to omit the azure field and the star from his personal arms when he was transferred from Melbourne to Sydney.