The official coat of arms for Pope Benedict XVI was recently "redone," or "completed" as the Vatican news service has reported to include all of the aspects in the design prepared with Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger was the Archbishop of Munich-Freising (Germany).

A the top (surely not the phrase the professionals would use) the Holy Father has replaced the papal tiara with the traditional episcopal mitre. At the opposite position, the bottom, Benedict has added the pallium (an Archbishop's vestment worn only in his own archdiocese; a symbol of his authority and the sacrifice his office calls him to live ... how true in the Church today!).

In the center is a shell. There are two stories attached to this. This first is the time St. Augustine encountered a young boy using a shell to pour water from the ocean into a hole dug in the sand. The shell was also an emblem for those pilgrims who made their way along the Way of Santiago to the famous shrine of St. James (Compostello).

Directly from the Catholic New Service: "The coat of arms also includes an image of the “Moor of Freising." The Moor’s head, facing left and crowned, appeared on the coat of arms of the old principality of Freising as early as 1316.

On the top right of the coat of arms is a figure of the “Bear of Corbinian," which refers to the legend of Bishop Corbinian, who preached the Gospel to Bavaria and is considered the spiritual father of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising."

Tradition has it that the good and obviously holy Bishop Corbinian was once traveling to Rome when a bear killed his pack animal. The bishop made the bear carry his belongings to Rome in place of the pack animal. Once in Rome, the bear was free to leave! Marvelous stories from tradition might be good for some today!

Oh, the keys! They are the sign of the ministry of a Pope. The keys that Jesus gave to Peter.