Tiara of Pope John Paul II

The Tiara of Pope John Paul II, known also as the Hungarian Tiara, ( [http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff319/kjk76_95/tiaragp2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wdtprs.com/blog/2007/11/18/&h=747&w=497&sz=95&hl=en&start=18&tbnid=m6BWybyt0qKiZM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpapal%2Btiara%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG image] ) is the most recent known Papal tiara extant. It was donated to the Catholic Pope John Paul II in 1981.

Details

There are no details as to exactly who in Hungary (either the state, the Catholic Church in Hungary, a diocese or an individual) donated the tiara, though one anti-Catholic website stated that the Hungarian tiara was a gift from "the people of Hungary". [ [http://biblelight.net/claims.htm] retrieved 10 March 2008.] [Previous papal tiaras were often given "in the name" of a country or organisation, despite these having been paid for and chosen by private individuals or organisations.Fact|date=April 2008] Though rumoured to exist, it is only in the twenty-first century that its existence was confirmed when photographs of the tiara were published.

Photographs suggest that this tiara, unlike most ones, contains no lappets.

Use and location

As no pope has worn a papal tiara since Pope Paul VI abandoned the practice in 1963, the Hungarian Tiara remains unworn. It is also unconfirmed as to whether it is currently in the Papal Sacristy in the Vatican alongside the other papal tiaras. Photographs do however show it displayed in the distinctive form used by the Papal Sacristy to display its collection of papal tiaras. [Papal Tiaras displayed by the Vatican are photographed on a distinct display base on a grey or blue background.Fact|date=April 2008 Images in the media, and later images on the internet (see one above) show the Hungarian Tiara displayed in that exact format. No papal tiaras outside the property of the Vatican (with the sole exception of the Tiara of Pope Paul VI on display in a Catholic Cathedral in Washington DC) ever use that format.]

Footnotes