Pope Leo to return to practice of ‘imposing’ pallium on new archbishops

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV will revive a tradition begun by St. John Paul II in 1983 by personally placing a pallium around the shoulders of recently named archbishops.

The pallium, a 3-inch-wide woolen band with 14-inch strips hanging down the front and the back, is a liturgical vestment that symbolizes both unity with the pope and service to the people of God. Metropolitan archbishops — residential archbishops who preside over an ecclesiastical province — wear the pallium when celebrating Mass in their province.

The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff issued a formal notification June 11 that on the June 29 feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Leo “will preside over the Eucharistic celebration, bless the palliums and impose them on the new metropolitan archbishops.”

In 2015, Pope Francis had changed the ceremony, inviting new archbishops to concelebrate Mass with him and be present for the blessing of the palliums as a way of underlining their bond of unity and communion with him.

However, Pope Francis decided that the actual imposition of the pallium would take place in the archbishop’s archdiocese in the presence of his faithful and bishops from neighboring dioceses. The nuncio, his representative to a country, would place the pallium over the archbishop’s shoulders.

The Code of Canon Law stipulates that within three months of their appointment or consecration all metropolitan archbishops must request a pallium from the pope. “The pallium signifies the power which the metropolitan, in communion with the Roman church, has by law in his own province,” it says.

The strips hanging down the front and back of the pallium are tipped with black silk to recall the dark hooves of the sheep that the archbishop is symbolically carrying over his shoulders.

Pope Francis’ change was designed to “better highlight the relationship of the metropolitan archbishops with their local churches, giving more faithful the possibility of being present for this significant rite,” said Msgr. Guido Marini, who was the master of papal liturgical ceremonies at the time.

Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the current master of ceremonies, did not explain why Pope Leo has decided to impose the palliums himself.

The heads of U.S. archdioceses who are due to receive palliums this year include: Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington; Archbishop W. Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kan.; Archbishop Michael G. McGovern of Omaha, Neb.; Archbishop Robert G. Casey of Cincinnati; Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez of Galveston-Houston; Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee; Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston; and Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Detroit.

In 1983, when St. John Paul placed palliums on the shoulders of five archbishops from Italy, Wales and Chile, he told them that it “is a symbol of privileged communion with the successor of Peter, principle and visible foundation of unity in the field of doctrine, discipline and pastoral work.”

At the same time, he said, the pallium should signify “a greater commitment to love for Christ and for souls. Such love for the flock of Christ, shepherd and guardian of our souls, will help you carry out your ministry of service,” he said. “The doctrine you offer will be fruitful if nourished with love.”

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