Pallium Primer, 2012 Edition

It's that time of year again, when bishops appointed archbishops over the course of the preceding year gather in Rome to receive the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI. The Pallium Mass takes place on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

The pallium is a wool band worn by an archbishop at Mass, around his neck and over his vestments. This blog delved into a little more of the pallium's background in our write-up for last year's Pallium Mass.

Like last year, four U.S. archbishops will be participating in this year's Pallium Mass. Each one brings something unique to the event:

Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila
Archbishop of Denver

Age 61
Ordained a priest June 5, 1976
Ordained a bishop August 24, 2001
Bishop of Fargo, North Dakota 2002-2012
Appointed Archbishop of Denver May 29, 2012

The fifth archbishop of Denver, Archbishop Aquila's appointment amounts to a homecoming as he was ordained a priest of Denver and served in that archdiocese until being appointed coadjutor bishop of Fargo in 2001. Denver was one of three U.S. archdioceses to go vacant (i.e. without an archbishop) in the past year, the other two being Baltimore and Indianapolis. Of the three, Indianapolis is the only one still awaiting the appointment of a new archbishop.


Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap.
Archbishop of Philadelphia

Age 67
Ordained a priest August 29, 1970
Ordained a bishop July 26, 1988
Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota 1988-1997
Archbishop of Denver 1997-2011
Installed as Archbishop of Philadelphia September 8, 2011

Predecessor to Archbishop Aquila in Denver, Archbishop Chaput's presence at the Pallium Mass brings to light one interesting aspect of the event, that a bishop who's been moved from one archdiocese to another receives the pallium again with his new assignment. This is the third consecutive year the U.S. Church has seen this phenomenon with Archbishop José Gomez (moved from San Antonio to Los Angeles) receiving the pallium in 2011 and then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan (moved from Milwaukee to New York) receiving it in 2010.

Archbishop William E. Lori
Archbishop of Baltimore

Age 61
Ordained a priest May 14, 1977
Ordained a bishop April 20, 1995
Auxiliary bishop of Washington 1995-2001
Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut 2001-2012
Installed as Archbishop of Baltimore May 16, 2012

The presence of the Archbishop of Baltimore at the Pallium Mass is always significant for the United States, as Baltimore is regarded as our Premier See, that is the first diocese from which all other U.S. dioceses were eventually carved. The bishops still hold their annual fall meeting in Baltimore. The first Archbishop of Baltimore, John Carroll, had a brother sign the U.S. Constitution and a cousin who was the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. Perhaps fittingly, Archbishop Lori has been a major force behind the U.S. bishops' Fortnight for Freedom campaign, focusing on religious liberty.

Archbishop William C. Skurla
Archbishop of Pittsburgh (Ruthenian)

Age 56
Ordained a priest May 23, 1987
Ordained a bishop April 23, 2002
Bishop of Van Nuys (Ruthenian), California 2002-2007
Bishop of Passaic (Ruthenian), New Jersey 2008-2012
Installed as Archbishop of Pittsburgh (Ruthenian) April 18, 2012

Archbishop Skurla's presence on this list brings an interesting twist in that he isn't a Roman Catholic archbishop, but rather the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh. This is one of several Eastern Rite Catholic Churches in the United States. Eastern Catholics belong to communities with ancient, distinctive worship and traditions that are very similar to Eastern Orthodox Christians, except that they are in communion with the pope. The Pallium Mass provides one strong visible sign of this communion.

Hat tip to David Cheney.

Pallium Primer

Tomorrow, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, four U.S. archbishops will be in Rome to participate in the Pallium Mass. Each of them -- along with all archbishops appointed in the past year all around the world -- will receive a Pallium from Pope Benedict XVI.

So what is the Pallium?

One man with over 25 years of experience wearing one, Cardinal Roger Mahony, the retired archbishop of Los Angeles, explains on

his blog:

It is a circular band about 2" wide, worn about the neck and having two pendants--one hanging down in front and one behind. It is worn over the chasuble at Mass. Every February two lambs are blessed each year and their white wool is used to make the Pallium. The wool is presented to the Pope, and Sisters then make the Pallium for the new Archbishops. ... The new Palliums are solemnly blessed on the eve of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, and are kept in a special silver-gilt container in front of the Main Altar in St. Peter's Basilica.

The four U.S. archbishops who are receiving this special sign of their office are:

Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller

Archbishop of San Antonio

Age 54

Ordained a priest June 22, 1984

Previously served as auxiliary bishop of Chicago (2003-10)

Currently youngest archbishop in USA

Archbishop Jose Gomez

Archbishop of Los Angeles

Age 59

Ordained a priest August 15, 1978

Previously served as auxiliary bishop of Denver (2001-04), archbishop of San Antonio (2005-10), coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles (2010-11)

First Latino appointed to a U.S. diocese traditionally headed by a cardinal

Archbishop Paul Stagg Coakley

Archbishop of Oklahoma City

Age 56

Ordained a priest May 21, 1983

Previously served as bishop of Salina, Kansas (2004-10)

Fourth archbishop of Oklahoma City

Archbishop James Peter Sartain

Archbishop of Seattle

Age 59

Ordained a priest July 15, 1978

Previously served as bishop of Little Rock (2000-06), bishop of Joliet (2006-10)

All three bishops heading dioceses in the state of Washington (Seattle, Yakima, Spokane) retired and were succeeded between June 2010 and April 2011.

The presence of Archbishop Gomez on this list raises another detail about the Pallium, that even an archbishop who's previously served as an archbishop in another diocese receives a new Pallium with his new assignment. The U.S. Church saw this recently with Archbishop Timothy Dolan's 2009 appointment to New York. Archbishop Dolan had previously served as archbishop of Milwaukee.

Hat tip to David Cheney, Doug Weller.

The Sheared Lambs Did Their Part

New archbishops around the world will receive their pallia from the pope on June 29, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Among those going to Rome for the occasion are Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit, Archbishop-designate Gregory Aymond of New Orleans and Archbishop-designate George Lucas of Omaha.

Much symbolism surrounds the pallia, which are white woolen bands, about two inches wide, that are worn around the neck. Pope Benedict XVI will present a pallium to Latin-rite archbishops recently named to head metropolitan sees.

Pallia are liturgical vestments worn over the chasuble at Mass, decorated with six dark crosses, with a strip hanging in front and in back and a pendant at the end of each strip. From front or back, the pallium resembles a “Y.” The pallium represent the archbishop’s authority over his ecclesiastical province and his unity with the pope, who also wears a pallium. The wool of an archbishop’s pallium recalls Jesus’s words to Peter: Feed my lambs (Jn 21:15). An archbishop is buried with his pallium.

There are differences between the archbishops’ pallia and the pope’s pallium. The archbishops’ pallia are woven from wool from lambs. The pope’s pallium is woven of wool from both lambs and sheep, to reflect Jesus’s telling Peter: “Feed my lambs” and “Feed my sheep.”

The wool for the pallia is no ordinary wool. It comes from very young lambs who are incensed and blessed after a solemn Mass on the Feast of St. Agnes (January 28) at Rome’s Basilica of St. Agnes Outside the Walls. Afterwards the lambs are shown to the pope at the Vatican and then cared for by the Benedictine nuns of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. The nuns care for them until Holy Thursday when the lambs are sheared.

On June 28, the vigil of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the pallia are placed on an altar in St. Peter’s Basilica near the tomb of St. Peter, where they remain throughout the night.