As “Woodcarver to the Cardinal,” as the 48-year-old Baltimore County artisan laughingly describes himself, Mr. German had 10 days to redesign and carve […] Skip to content All Sections ...

This pope, who as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was the Vatican’s chief theologian, is by temperament and training an intellectual, and the intricate and ambiguous imagery on his coat of arms ...

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.