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Dio Palm BeachPope Leo XIV’s motto and coat of arms and what does it mean?
By Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV’s coat of arms offers a clear reflection of his Augustinian roots and the values he seeks to promote during his pontificate, particularly unity and communion within the Church.
The shield is divided diagonally into two sections. The upper half features a blue background with a white lily.
The lower half of the shield has a light background and displays an image that recalls the Order of Saint Augustine: a closed book with a heart pierced by an arrow. This is a direct reference to the conversion experience of Saint Augustine himself, who described his personal encounter with God’s Word using the phrase: “Vulnerasti cor meum verbo tuo” – “You have pierced my heart with your Word.”
The motto
Pope Leo XIV has also chosen a motto that reflects this Augustinian tradition: In Illo uno unum, which means “In the One, we are one.” The phrase is taken from Saint Augustine’s Exposition on Psalm 127, where he explains that “although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one.”
In a 2023 interview with Vatican News’ Tiziana Campisi, then-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost spoke about the significance of this motto: “As can be seen from my episcopal motto, unity and communion are truly part of the charism of the Order of Saint Augustine, and also of my way of acting and thinking,” he said. “𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒅. 𝑺𝒐, 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒂𝒏, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍.”
Saint Augustine’s reflection on Psalm 127 highlights the theological foundation of this idea. “Christ – head and body – is one single man. And what is the body of Christ? His Church,” Augustine writes. He then adds, “𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 – 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑯𝒊𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘.”
