(ZENIT News / Rome, 06.14.2025).- When Pope Leo XIV steps into the heart of St. Peter’s Basilica on June 29, the solemn feast of Saints Peter and Paul, he will not only celebrate the Eucharist but also revive a gesture long associated with direct papal authority: the personal imposition of the pallium upon new metropolitan archbishops.
This decision marks a return to a custom, quietly set aside under Pope Francis, who chose instead to send palliums to the archbishops’ home dioceses to be conferred by local nuncios. Now, under the new pope, the ritual reclaims its place at the Vatican’s central altar, restoring a liturgical moment that unites ancient tradition with papal presence.
The pallium, a narrow band of white wool marked by six black crosses and pinned with silk nails, is more than a garment. It traces a complex history of symbolism, law, and ecclesial authority. Worn by metropolitan archbishops during solemn celebrations, it expresses both their pastoral leadership within their ecclesiastical province and their communion with the Bishop of Rome.
Its form—draped over the shoulders with two pendants falling at front and back—evokes the figure of the Good Shepherd carrying the lost sheep. But its juridical roots run just as deep. Since at least the sixth century, the pallium has signified papal recognition, and by the Middle Ages, no archbishop could fully exercise his office without receiving it. Pope Gregory the Great’s letter in 601 to Augustine of Canterbury explicitly linked the pallium with authority to govern in the Pope’s name.
The wool from which the pallium is made comes from lambs blessed each year on the feast of Saint Agnes, whose martyrdom and symbolism of purity connect this small ritual to the deeper sacrificial image of Christ. The pallium’s fabric, as well as the act of blessing and imposition, links the bearer to both a tradition and a mission: to shepherd with humility and strength.
By choosing to impose the palliums himself, Pope Leo XIV is not merely resuming a practice; he is recalibrating the balance of liturgical centrality. It’s a move that reinforces the visibility of the pope’s pastoral role, not only as universal shepherd but also as the focal point of episcopal unity.
Yet this is not a rejection of Pope Francis’s vision. Observers note that Leo XIV’s decision may reflect a nuanced form of continuity rather than rupture. Where Francis emphasized decentralization and the local Church, Leo XIV appears to underscore communion through presence—his own.
The shift also aligns with broader patterns in the new pontificate. While still early in his tenure, Leo XIV has shown interest in reinvigorating elements of papal ceremony with historical and spiritual resonance. In this case, the act of laying the pallium across the shoulders of each new archbishop can be read as both paternal and pastoral, tying the gesture to the very heart of episcopal identity.
This renewed ritual, taking place in the shadow of Peter’s tomb and beneath Michelangelo’s dome, also has an unmistakably visual dimension. As archbishops kneel one by one before the pope, the Church offers a rare glimpse into the living continuity of apostolic succession—anchored not only in doctrine, but in tactile gestures of blessing, responsibility, and communion.
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