Bishop Mario Dorsonville
Mario Eduardo Dorsonville-Rodríguez was born October 31, 1960 in Bogotá, Colombia, the only child of Leonor M. Rodríguez and the late Carlos J. Dorsonville. He attended the major seminary of the Archdiocese of Bogotá, receiving a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1981 and a bachelor’s in sacred theology in 1985. He was ordained to the priesthood on November 23, 1985 in Bogotá. Following ordination, he served as parochial vicar of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Bogotá (1986), chaplain of the National University of Colombia, Bogotá (1987), pastor of San Jose de Calasanz Parish, Bogotá (1987-1991), and associate chaplain (1988-1991) and professor of ethics (1990-1991) at the National University of Colombia.
He received a licentiate in sacred theology from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá in 1991 and a doctorate in ministry from The Catholic University of America in 1995. He served as a professor at the Hispanic Apostolate of Arlington from 1993-1994. He returned to Colombia to serve as chaplain and professor of ethics at the National University of Colombia and professor of pastoral counseling and catechesis at the major seminary of the Archdiocese of Bogotá from 1995-1996.
He served parochial vicar of St. Joseph Parish in Arlington (1996), Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bethesda (1997-2004) and St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Hyattsville (2004-2005). He has served as vice president for mission of Catholic Charities of Washington and director of the Spanish Catholic Center since 2005 and as adjunct spiritual director for St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington since 2011.
He has served as a member of the priest council of the Archdiocese of Washington since 2000 and a member of the College of Consultors of the archdiocese since 2011. He was a member of the board of directors for Carroll Publishing Company from 2000-2003. He completed an executive certificate in non-profit management course at Georgetown University in 2009 and served as a mentor for newly ordained priests from 2010-2011.
Coat of Arms
In designing the shield, aBishop has an opportunity to depict symbolically various aspects of his own life and heritage, andparticular elements of Catholic faith and devotion. The formal description of a coat of arms, known asthe blazon, uses a technical language, derived from medieval French and English terms, which allowsthe appearance and position of each element in the achievement to be recorded precisely.
The field of Bishop Dorsonville’s shield is painted blue, a color associated with Our Lady.In the center of the shield is a tower painted gold, which is likewise a symbol of the BlessedMother, who in the Litany of Loreto is invoked as the “Tower of David” and a “House of Gold.” Thesame charge appears on the arms of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington.
The tower is charged with a “Chi-Rho” for Our Lord, painted red. (Chi and Rho are the first two letters of the word “Christ” as spelled in Greek.) The spiritualstrength symbolized by the tower has its origin in the grace that comes through Jesus Christ, who is “atower of salvation” (2 Sam 22:51), “a strong tower against the enemy” (Psalm 61:3). Taken as a whole,the design thus alludes to the mystery of salvation through the Incarnation of Christ in the womb of theVirgin Mary, and the redemption that Christ won for us through his sacrifice on the Cross.
The tinctures of the Bishop’s coat of arms are also the colors ofthe national flag of the Republic of Colombia (gold, blue, red). The open door of the tower on theBishop’s shield alludes to the welcome the Church offers to immigrants in the name of Christ.
The scroll below the shield bears the Bishop’s motto: Sacerdos in Aeternum. These words from Psalm110:4 — “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever according to theorder of Melchizedek.’” — are echoed in the Letter to the Hebrews, which applies them to Our Lord andhis self-sacrifice on the Cross.
The shield is ensigned with external elements that identify the bearer as a Bishop. A gold processionalcross appears behind the shield. The galero or “pilgrim’s hat” is used heraldically in various colors andwith specific numbers of tassels to indicate the rank of a bearer of a coat of arms. A Bishop uses agreen galero with three rows of green tassels.