Our Archbishop at the Eternal City

My brothers and sisters, the second major event to be held in the coming days is the imposition of the pallium from the Pope to our Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller. The pallium is the name given in the Roman Catholic Church to one of time ecclesiastical ornaments worn by the Pope, by patriarchs, and by archbishops. Its use is held by Roman Catholics to descend from a very early period. The Pope wears it at all times, as a symbol of his reputed universal and abiding jurisdiction. By archbishops it cannot be worn until it has been solemnly asked for and granted by the Pope, and even then only during the solemn service of the great church festivals, and on occasions of the ordination of bishops or of priests, and other similar acts of the archiepiscopal order. The pallium is a narrow annular band of white woolen web; about 3 in. wide, upon which black crosses are embroidered which encircles the neck of the archbishop, and from which two narrow hands of the same material depend, one falling over the breast, the other over the back of the wearer. Its material is the subject of much care and ceremonial. Worn by the Pope, the pallium symbolizes the plenitudo pontificalis officii (i.e., the "plenitude of pontifical office"); worn by archbishops, it typifies their participation in the supreme pastoral power of the Pope, who concedes it to them for their proper church provinces. The new pallia are solemnly blessed after the Second Vespers on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, and are then kept in a special silver-gilt casket near the Confessio Petri (tomb of St. Peter) until required. Since the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), the liturgy for the conferral of the pallium as it appears in the liturgical books is to take place at the beginning of the Mass in which the archbishop takes possession of his see; however, the practice of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI has actually been to summon all new metropolitans to Rome to receive the pallium directly from the hands of the Pope on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. Let us all rejoice in this event and pray for the person and the intentions of our beloved Archbishop ■ Fr. Agustín, Pastor.