Dear Anthony:

Anti-Catholics can get quite goofy in their fervor to reveal what they think are evidences that the Catholic Church is evil. It is all nonsense and presumptive and creative interpretations to see a devil around of every corner of the Catholic Church. I am surprised that these numskulls do not try to say the brick and mortar, that is the construction materials of Vatican buildings, is not a satanic symbol. These people need to get a life.

The symbols of the dragon and ram were on the Coat of Arms of the Pope. These symbols have absolutely nothing to do with Satanism. In Medieval heraldry the dragon with his sharp eye, is the guardian of treasures. He is also the bravest of all the creatures. The ram is the symbol of authority and leadership.

The Pope is the authority and leader of Christianity, the Vicar of Christ, the King's Prime Minister. The Pope must have a sharp eye out to guard the treasure of the faith, the Church, and the people of God, and be brave in doing so.

On the coin the dragon is encircling and eating its own tail. When shaped like this the dragon becomes a symbol of eternity, natural cycles, and completion. Pope Gregory has just commissioned the Gregorian Calendar that we use today. This was an event of placing the natural cycles (the calendar) in proper calibration, thus completing this task for the rest of human time. The ram is still a symbol of authority. Pope Gregory changed the calendar upon his authority as Pope.

The Latin phrase on the coin is not Anno Restitutom. The person did not read it right. The phrase is Anno Restituto MDLXXXII. The "m" belongs to the date, which is 1582. The phrase reads: Year of Restitution 1582 . The coin was minted in celebration of the new calendar. Again, anti-Catholics, get a life.

While it is true that the dragon can have an evil interpretation, and it certainly had a negative interpretation in Medieval times, symbols can have many meanings. To jump to the most negative meaning is called the grave sin of rash judgment. This is what the anti-Catholics always do because they are bigots. Bigots will always interpret things in the most negative way to suit their pre-conceived idea about the Church. They really need to get a life, that is, living the Christ-Life as best as they know how instead of trying to bruise the heal of the Church that Christ personally founded.

Also see a previous post on symbols see here and here.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary