A reader writes:
I recently read an article about the stamps the Vatican has issued for the Sede Vacante and they, along with the images on the Vatican web site have me a bit confused. The feature the gold and silver keys to Heaven and Hell, which I understand, and something that looks all the world to me like an umbrella. What is this and what is it’s sympolism with regards to the Sede Vacante. Thanks.
From what I can tell, this symbol (as a whole, the umbrella and the keys) seems to be the arms of the camerlengo (chamberlain) who governs the Vatican in the interregnum between popes.
The keys, of course, represent the "keys of the kingdom" given by Jesus to Peter in Matthew 16:19:
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
NEAT STUFF ON BINDING AND LOOSING HERE.
They thus symbolize the camerlengo’s connection to the pope.
The umbrella-lookin’ thing is called (brace yourself for a shock!) an umbracullum, which means what it sounds like.
Originally these were carried by attendants to shade royalty from the sun, and popes started using them too. (Wikipedia says because it symbolized the temporal power of the papacy of the day, but I think it also had something to do with popes getting hot.)
With such great explanations as yours, who has the need for those such as noted Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon??? 🙂