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  • By Bruce Lloyd

Archbishop Byrnes to be formally installed June 29 in Rome

Elaborate travel arrangements for Archbishop of the Diocese of Agana Michael J. Byrnes published on the website JungleWatch have revealed plans for his visit to the Vatican in late June. Byrnes, the third Archbishop of Agana, will be the subject of a Celebration of the Conferral of the Pallium.

As Jungle Watch headlined it: " A NEW ARCHBISHOP FOR GUAM - FINALLY."

According to Wikipedia, "The pallium (derived from the Roman pallium or palla, a woolen cloak) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolitans and primates as a symbol of their conferred jurisdictional authorities... In its present (western) form, the pallium is a long and "three fingers broad" (narrow) white band adornment, woven from the wool of lambs raised by Trappist monks. It is donned by looping its middle around one's neck, resting upon the chasuble and two dependent lappets over one's shoulders with tail-ends (doubled) on the left with the front end crossing over the rear.

At present, only the pope, metropolitan archbishops, and the Latin Rite Patriarch of Jerusalem wear the pallium. Under the 1917 Code of Canon Law, a metropolitan had to receive the pallium before exercising his office in his ecclesiastical province, even if he was previously metropolitan elsewhere, but these restrictions were absent in the revised 1983 Code of Canon Law. No other bishops, even non-metropolitan archbishops or retired metropolitans, are allowed to wear the pallium unless they have special permission. An explicit exception is made for the rarely realized scenario in which a person not yet a bishop is elected pope, in which case the bishop ordaining the new pope wears the pallium during the ceremony."

Pope Benedict wears the pallium

According to his travel itinerary, Archbishop Byrnes will have a Papal audience and tour ancient Rome, including stops at the Coliseum and the Roman Forum and culminating in a celebratory Mass at St. Peters and Chains. Other tour points include "the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, where you will view some of the most inspiring works of art, including Michelangelo's magnificent fresco of the Last Judgment."

The major event however will occur on June 29, as the Pope and other new archbishops "celebrate the Pallium Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica with the Holy Father, Archbishop Byrnes and the newly installed Archbishops from around the world. Following Mass, the celebration continues at a reception with Archbishop Byrnes and the newly installed Archbishops from North America at the North American College."

 

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