New vestment will symbolize the archbishop’s role as shepherd

Archbishop Michael G. McGovern and about 40 other metropolitan archbishops from around the world will receive a distinct sign of their office – a pallium – from Pope Leo XIV on June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Eight of the archdiocese leaders hail from the United States: Archbishop McGovern; Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington; Archbishop W. Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas; 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.

The Mass of the investiture of the pallium, at 9:30 a.m. in Rome (2:30 a.m. CDT), can be viewed live on YouTube. It will also be carried live on EWTN. The network will re-air the Mass again at 11 a.m.

A pallium is a stole-like ecclesial vestment worn around the neck of the pope and metropolitan archbishops. The pallium is a sign of an archbishop’s pastoral authority and his unity with the pope.

The pallia (plural) are a unique and rich part of Church tradition. The process involved in making them begins Jan. 21, the memorial of St. Agnes, a fourth-century martyr.

Every year on the memorial, two lambs are brought to the Basilica of St. Agnes Outside the Walls in Rome. The animals – donated by the Trappist monastery of Tre Fontane in Rome (the site of St. Paul’s martyrdom) – are brought inside in baskets.

One basket is decorated with red flowers to commemorate St. Agnes’ martyrdom, the other with white flowers to symbolize her purity.

The lambs are blessed during a special rite before being sent to the Vatican, where they are blessed again by the pope.

Next, they are sent to the Benedictine Sisters at the Basilica of St. Cecilia in Trastevere. There they are cared for until just before Easter when they are shorn of their wool. That wool then is used to make the pallia, which Pope Leo will bless on June 29 and place on the shoulders of the new metropolitan archbishops.

The pallium, with its lamb’s wool, represents an archbishop’s role as a shepherd, a symbol of the Lamb crucified for the salvation of the world.

A pallium is about two inches wide and rests on the shoulders, with pendants or lappets that hang about 12 inches in the front and the back. When viewed from the front or the back, the pallium resembles the letter Y.

The pallium of Pope St. John XXIII is displayed in a museum of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, Poland. WIKIPEDIA PHOTO

The two pendants that hang from the circular band of the pallium – one in the front of an archbishop’s vestments and the other in the back – represent the yoke of Christ and the archbishop’s pastoral responsibility. The pendants are tipped with black satin to resemble the hoof of a lamb, signifying that the archbishop is the chief shepherd of the diocese, carrying a lamb on his shoulders in imitation of Christ the Good Shepherd. 

The pallium’s six black crosses signify Jesus’ wounds and the archbishop’s call to share in the Lord’s suffering. Three of those crosses, the ones on the front, back and left shoulder, are ornamented with a gold pin, symbolizing the three nails of Christ’s crucifixion.

A pallium is worn only on certain great feasts and within an archbishop’s archdiocese and the dioceses within his province. Archbishop McGovern is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Omaha, which includes the Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island dioceses.

To learn more about the pallium and Archbishop McGovern’s investiture, see the Archdiocese of Omaha website.