Last Sunday 29 June, Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool and Archbishop Mark O’Toole of Cardiff-Menevia received the pallium from Pope Leo XIV in St Peter’s Basilica.
The celebration was on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul and included a blessing and the imposition of the pallium on 48 new metropolitan archbishops, including Archbishop Sherrington and Archbishop O’Toole.
The pallium, a white woollen band approximately three inches wide with strips hanging down the front and back is a sacred vestment symbolising the archbishop’s unity with the Pope and his pastoral responsibility to serve God’s people.
Metropolitan archbishops wear the pallium when celebrating Mass within their ecclesiastical province, representing their participation in the Pope’s supreme pastoral authority.
The pallium has deep historical roots, with its use traceable to the fourth century when Pope Marcus conferred it upon the Bishop of Ostia in 336.
Traditionally made from the wool of lambs blessed by the Pope on the feast of Saint Agnes, the pallium connects each archbishop to centuries of Church tradition whilst emphasising his current pastoral responsibilities.
Pope Leo has restored the ancient tradition of personally conferring the pallium on new metropolitan archbishops, marking a return to practices established by Saint John Paul II in 1983 following changes Pope Francis made to the practice.
This was the second time Archbishop O’Toole received the pallium following Pope Francis’s creation of the united Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia in September 2024. Archbishop O’Toole received the pallium for the newly united diocese, whereas he had previously received it for Cardiff alone in June 2023.
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