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Formed in Christ

Friday, June 27, 2025Faith

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... the use of the lambs' wool in the making of the pallium reminds the new archbishop that he is given additional care for the flock of Christ, who is the Lamb of God.

The pallium that Archbishop Henning will receive on June 29 is "a white circular band of wool two inches wide, with two weighted pendants, front and back, worn around the neck, shoulders and breast, ornamented with six black crosses of silk."
The pallium, a Mass vestment, is used by a metropolitan archbishop on more solemn occasions when he is the principal celebrant of a Mass. Among the more noticeable of these would be the celebrations of ordinations, confirmations, dedications of churches or blessings of abbots or abbesses, and at the installations of suffragan bishops of his province. In short, it is used at liturgical celebrations usually celebrated by a bishop.
The pope always wears his pallium no matter where he is the principal celebrant of a Mass.
Both Canon Law and liturgical regulations describe the appropriate times when the pallium may be used. Because the pallium is a symbol of his metropolitan status, the metropolitan may use it only within his own metropolitan province, but not outside of it.
When a metropolitan archbishop dies, he may be buried vested with the most recent pallium he has received. All other palliums he may have received must also be buried with him, folded up and at the back of his neck, according to an old directive.
The Benedictine Sisters of the convent of St. Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome make the palliums.

Each year on the feast of St. Agnes, Jan. 21, two lambs are blessed in the Basilica of St. Agnes on the via Nomentana in Rome. Recall that one of St. Agnes' symbols in art is the lamb, which also recalls the "Lamb of God" -- Jesus Christ.
After the lambs have been blessed, they are given to the Benedictine Sisters in Trastevere, who care for them, and when the time comes, the lambs are shorn of their wool. It is this wool that the sisters then weave into the palliums.
When the palliums are finished, they are brought to the Vatican. They are blessed by the pope during the ceremony when they are presented to the new metropolitans. Those to be bestowed at other times are then kept in a special container under the Altar of Crucifixion, over the tomb of St. Peter.
Pope Leo XIV has revived the practice of both bestowing and imposing the pallium on the archbishops named since the previous June 29. As of June 20, 54 other new metropolitans will be joining Archbishop Henning for the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.
The pallium has a long history and has undergone several changes in style, but there are a few constants best expressed as symbols. Here are a few: a symbol of the metropolitan's jurisdiction in his province, a symbol of his unity with the Bishop of Rome, and a reminder that the archbishop is "yoked" to the Chief Shepherd of the Flock, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
-- The metropolitan archbishop has a limited but real responsibility for the government and pastoral care of the dioceses of his province. The new "Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops" directs the metropolitan to be attentive to his brother bishops and to assist them with his advice and prayers, and even to correct them "fraternally" if the need arises.
-- The unity of the metropolitan archbishop with the Holy Father is beautifully symbolized not only by the feast -- Sts. Peter and Paul -- chosen for the giving of the pallium, but also from the fact that the pallium is taken from the "tomb of the apostle Peter," of whom the pope is the successor.
-- As noted above, the use of the lambs' wool in the making of the pallium reminds the new archbishop that he is given additional care for the flock of Christ, who is the Lamb of God.
Here is the prayer Pope Leo will pray for the imposition.
"To the glory of Almighty God and the praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the apostles Peter and Paul, and of the Holy Roman Church, for the honor of the Churches, which have been placed in your care, and as symbol of your authority as metropolitan archbishop: We confer on you the pallium taken from the tomb of Peter to wear within the limits of your ecclesiastical province.
May this pallium be a symbol of unity and a sign of your communion with the Apostolic See, a bond of love, and an incentive to courage. On the day of the coming and manifestation of our great God and chief shepherd, Jesus Christ, may you and the flock entrusted to you be clothed with immortality and glory. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."