Pope Leo will place the pallium on new archbishops himself

The pallium, an 8cm woollen band with 35cm strips hanging down the front and the back, is a liturgical vestment that symbolises 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 on 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 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 home archdiocese in the presence of his faithful and bishops from neighbouring dioceses. The apostolic nuncio, the pope’s representative, 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.

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.

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Pope to revive placing Pallium on new Archbishops (By Cindy Wooden/CNS/The Catholic Weekly)