Ecclesiastical ring gold, stone-set ring. Roman Catholic bishops traditionally have their episcopal ring set with an amethyst. Aside from the rings a bishop purchases or is given by others, his rings belong to the Church; he will have inherited the previous bishop's ring collection, which is held in trust. While all hierarchs are accorded the honor of being buried wearing a ring, all rings belonging to the Church will be returned to the Church upon the retirement or death of any hierarch. In a Decree of Pope Boniface IV (A.D. 610) it describes monks raised to the episcopal dignity as "anulo pontificali
Cooper (profession) spirits industry. In the United Kingdom, the trade of "master cooper" is dwindling; it is thought that the last remaining cooper company in England is a beer barrel manufacturer in Wetherby, West Yorkshire. Cooper (profession) A cooper is a person trained to make wooden casks, barrels, vats, buckets, tubs, troughs and other staved containers, from timber that was usually heated or steamed to make it pliable. Journeymen coopers also traditionally made wooden implements, such as rakes and wooden-bladed shovels. Other materials, such as iron, were used as well as wood, in the manufacturing process. The word "cooper" is derived from