Robert John McClory
ROBERT JOHN MCCLORY
Born: October 10, 1963
Deceased:
Bishop of Gary, 2019-present
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Origin/meaning
As common in US episcopal heraldry, the arms show the arms of the diocese impaled with the personal arms of the bishop.
Bishop Robert J. McClory's coat of arms is centered by a white host and gold chalice, signifying the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and the centrality of the Holy Eucharist in the life of the Catholic Church and the life of a bishop. It is also a reference to Bishop McClory's priestly ordination in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, Mich.
The pine cone is a reference to St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), the Bishop's baptismal patron. The pine cone is taken from the Bellarmine family arms. The red rose refers to St. Theresa of Lisieux, the patronal saint of the McClory fanilly. Bishop McClory celebrated his first Mass as a priest and eventually became the pastor and rector of the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, Mich., from where he was called to the episcopacy.
Girdling the base of the chalice is the white triple-knotted cincture used as an emblem of the Third Order of St. Francis. The knots stand for the cardinal virtues of faith, hope and love as well as for the Holy Trinity. The cords represent his parents (James and Ann), who met through the Third Order of St. Francis (at St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit), and it also has a reference to the Trinity and some of the theological virtues. The cincture honors St.Francis of Assisi, but more significantly the bishop's parents and the sacrament of matrimony.
The key in base refers to the Order of Porter - the first of the former Minor Orders leading to priesthood. The basic duties of 'porter' were to care for the opening and closing of the church building as well as to care for the temporalities of the church. It is used here to recall the Porter of St. Bonaventure Monastery from Detroit, the rerently beatified Father Solanus Casey. Bishop McClory, while vicar general and moderator of the curia in the Archdiocese of Detroit, participated in the pre-canonization planning for the beatification of Blessed Solanus Casey.
The blue background pays homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Shortly before receiving the call to the episcopacy, the bishop had completed a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady in Lourdes, France. His ordination to the episcopacy took place on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11, 2020.
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.
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