Pope confers pallium on Archbishop Rodi By Mary Woodward
JACKSON — On Wednesday, June 25, Bishop Joseph Latino, Bishop William Houck, former Bishop of Jackson, and I left for Rome to spend a week attending ceremonies surrounding the conferral of the pallium on the new archbishops of the church.
Every year on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, the Holy Father confers the pallium, a vestment made from lamb’s wool, on all the new metropolitan archbishops who have been appointed throughout that year. This year the ceremony held special significance for Catholics in Mississippi and Alabama because Archbishop Thomas Rodi, the new archbishop of Mobile, was one of those receiving the pallium.
Archbishop Rodi was installed as the second Archbishop of Mobile on June 6. He is the former bishop of the Biloxi diocese where he served for seven years as bishop and continues to serve as apostolic administrator until a new bishop is appointed there.
In Canon Law, a metropolitan is defined as an archbishop who presides over an ecclesiastical province in addition to his own archdiocese. The Archdiocese of Mobile and the Dioceses of Jackson, Biloxi and Birmingham make up the ecclesiastical province of Mobile. Jackson, Biloxi and Birmingham are called suffragan dioceses.
A metropolitan has certain responsibilities that deal with matters of the faith and ecclesiastical discipline in the entire province. It is his responsibility to call together the bishops of the suffragan dioceses for consultation and resolution to these matters.
He also can celebrate the sacraments in any of the churches of the province as he pleases though if the church is the cathedral he should inform the local suffragan bishop. Except for his specific responsibilities, he does not have power of governance or authority over the suffragan dioceses or their bishops. (Code of Canon Law 435-438)
Two other American metropolitan archbishops received the pallium with Archbishop Rodi – Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore and Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis. In all 40 archbishops from around the world received the pallium during the three-hour Mass in which the Patriarch of Constantinople Batholomew I also participated.
The pallium is made of lamb’s wool and is worn around the neck and over the shoulders of the metropolitan. It symbolizes the lost sheep the Good Shepherd seeks out and carries back to the flock on his shoulders. It is a symbol of unity with the pope and contains five nails for the wounds of Christ on the cross.
As part of our journey to Rome to celebrate with Archbishop Rodi, we participated in several smaller liturgies including the celebrations of Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the papal grotto in St. Peter Basilica, and St. Susanna Church, which is the American parish in Rome. These celebrations were opportunities for Bishop Latino and Bishop Houck to celebrate Mass in some of the most sacred spots in the Eternal City.
The Basilica of St. Mary Major dates back to the fifth century. It is the first church dedicated to the Blessed Mother in the West and was begun shortly after the Council of Ephesus. We celebrated the Mass on the Feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria (June 27), who in 431 defended Mary as “theotokos” – “God-bearer” at that council against the Nestorians.
Throughout St. Mary Major’s 15 century history, chapels and decorative elements have been added, but the essential structure remains from the original church. It is quite moving to celebrate Mass there in a small side chapel and realize Mass has been celebrated on that spot for 1500 years.
On Saturday, June 28, after celebrating an early morning Mass in a chapel near the tomb of St. Peter in the papal grotto of the Basilica of St. Peter, Bishops Latino and Houck participated in First Vespers for the opening of the Year of St. Paul with Pope Benedict and Patriarch Bartolomew.
The evening prayer celebration took place in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, where the body of St. Paul is buried beneath the altar. The Year of St. Paul will last from June 28, 2008 – June 29, 2009. It marks the 2000th anniversary of the birth of the apostle. Visit the diocesan website, www.jacksondiocese.org, for more information and resources.
The next morning we walked to St. Peter’s for the Mass for the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul and the conferral of the pallium. The Mass used the languages of Italian, Greek, English, Spanish and Latin. After the homily each archbishop was called forward to kneel before the Holy Father and have the pallium placed over his head by the pope.
