Pope
Francis marked the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul with Mass in St
Peter’s Basilica, during which he imposed the pallium on thirty-four of
the metropolitan archbishops installed over the past year. The pallium is the white, shawl-like woolen liturgical vestment worn over the shoulders of a metropolitan archbishop, which is the peculiar sign of a metropolitan’s office: it specifically symbolizes authority and union with the Holy See.
Each year on the feast, the Metropolitan archbishops installed during the course of the preceding year travel to Rome to receive the vestment. The solemnity is also one of the two days in the liturgical year in which the ancient bronze statue of St Peter in the basilica is symbolically vested in an ornate red silk cope and crowned with the triple tiara.
After processing into the basilica with the thirty-four new metropolitans and hearing the readings, Pope Francis delivered a homily in which he focused on the mystery of the Petrine ministry as one particularly ordered to confirming all Christians everywhere in faith, love and unity.
"Faith in Christ,” said Pope Francis, “is the light of our life as Christians.“ Addressing himself to the new metropolitans, the Pope said, “To confess the Lord by letting oneself be taught by God; to be consumed by love for Christ and his Gospel; to be servants of unity. These, dear brother bishops, are the tasks which the holy apostles Peter and Paul entrust to each of us, so that they can be lived by every Christian.”
This was a theme to which the Holy Father returned after Mass, in remarks to the faithful gathered in St Peter's square for the Angelus prayer. “What a joy it is to believe in a God who is all Love, all Grace,” he said.
Also at the Angelus, Pope Francis also greeted the delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, led by Metropolitan Ioannis Zizoulas. “Let us not forget that Peter had a brother, Andrew,” said Pope Francis, “who met Jesus first, spoke of Him to Peter and took Peter to meet [the Lord].”
Then Pope Francis asked all the gathered faithful to join him in praying a Hail Mary for Patriarch Bartholomew.
In conclusion, the Holy Father greeted all the pilgrim faithful who, from every part of the world, were come to celebrate the feast in Rome.
Below, please find a list of the thirty-four metropolitans to receive the pallium:
- Patriarch Manuel Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente of Lisbon, Portugal;
Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central African Republic;
Archbishop Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli of Gorizia, Italy;
Archbishop Claudio Dalla Zuanna of Beira, Mozambique;
Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu of Visakhapatnam, India;
Archbishop Antonio Carlos Altieri of Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil;
Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Lodz, Poland;
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow, Scotland;
Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone of San Francisco, California;
Archbishop Rolando Joven Tria Tirona of Caceres, Philippines;
Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera Lopez of Monterrey, Mexico;
Archbishop Joseph William Tobin of Indianapolis, Indiana;
Archbishop Carlos Maria Franzini of Mendoza, Argentina;
Archbishop Lorenzo Ghizzoni of Ravenna-Cervia, Italy;
Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras and Mylapore, India;
Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto of Delhi, India;
Archbishop John Wong Soo Kau of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia;
Archbishop Murray Chatlain of Keewatin-Le Pas, Manitoba;
Archbishop Sérgio Eduardo Castriani of Manaus, Brazil;
Archbishop Peter Loy Chong of Suva, Fiji Islands;
Archbishop Alfonso Cortes Contreras of Leon, Mexico;
Archbishop Alexander King Sample of Portland, Oregon;
Archbishop Joseph Effiong Ekuwem of Calabar, Nigeria;
Archbishop Jesus Juarez Parraga of Sucre, Bolivia;
Archbishop Fabio Martinez Castilla of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico;
Archbishop Ramon Alfredo Dus of Resistencia, Argentina;
Archbishop Mario Aurelio Poli of Buenos Aires, Argentina;
Archbishop Gintaras Linas Grusas of Vilnius, Lithuania;
Archbishop Michael Owen Jackels of Dubuque, Iowa;
Archbishop Duro Hranic of Dakovo-Osijek, Croatia;
Archbishop Moacir Silva of Ribeirao Preto, Brazil;
Archbishop Jozef Piotr Kupny of Wroclaw, Poland;
Archbishop Sergio Alfredo Gualberti Calandrina of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia;
Archbishop Giuseppe Petrocchi of L’Aquila, Italy.
In addition, Archbishop Francois Xavier Le Van Hong of Hue, in Vietnam, was unable to make the trip. He is to receive the pallium in his archdiocese.
Below, please find the English text of his homily.
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Homily of the Holy Father
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
(Saturday, 29 June 2013)
Your Eminences,
My Brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are celebrating the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, principal patrons of the Church of Rome: a celebration made all the more joyful by the presence of bishops from throughout the world. A great wealth, which makes us in some sense relive the event of Pentecost. Today, as then, the faith of the Church speaks in every tongue and desire to unite all peoples in one family.
I offer a heartfelt and grateful greeting to the Delegation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, led by Metropolitan Ioannis. I thank Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I for this renewed gesture of fraternity. I greet the distinguished ambassadors and civil authorities. And in a special way I thank the Thomanerchor, the Choir of the Thomaskirche of Leipzig – Bach’s own church – which is contributing to today’s liturgical celebration and represents an additional ecumenical presence.
I would like to offer three thoughts on the Petrine ministry, guided by the word “confirm”. What has the Bishop of Rome been called to confirm?
1. First, to confirm in faith. The Gospel speaks of the confession of Peter: “You are Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16), a confession which does not come from him but from our Father in heaven. Because of this confession, Jesus replies: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church” (v. 18). The role, the ecclesial service of Peter, is founded upon his confession of faith in Jesus, the Son of the living God, made possible by a grace granted from on high. In the second part of today’s Gospel we see the peril of thinking in worldly terms. When Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection, of the path of God which does not correspond to the human path of power, flesh and blood re-emerge in Peter: “He took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him ... This must never happen to you” (16:22). Jesus’ response is harsh: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me” (v. 23). Whenever we let our thoughts, our feelings or the logic of human power prevail, and we do not let ourselves be taught and guided by faith, by God, we become stumbling blocks. Faith in Christ is the light of our life as Christians and as ministers in the Church!
2. To confirm in love. In the second reading we heard the moving words of Saint Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tm 4:7). But what is this fight? It is not one of those fights fought with human weapons which sadly continue to cause bloodshed throughout the world; rather, it is the fight of martyrdom. Saint Paul has but one weapon: the message of Christ and the gift of his entire life for Christ and for others. It is precisely this readiness to lay himself open, personally, to be consumed for the sake of the Gospel, to make himself all things to all people, unstintingly, that gives him credibility and builds up the Church. The Bishop of Rome is called himself to live and to confirm his brothers and sisters in this love for Christ and for all others, without distinction, limits or barriers.
3. To confirm in unity. Here I would like to reflect for a moment on the rite which we have carried out. The pallium is a symbol of communion with the Successor of Peter, “the lasting and visible source and foundation of the unity both of faith and of communion” (Lumen Gentium, 18). And your presence today, dear brothers, is the sign that the Church’s communion does not mean uniformity. The Second Vatican Council, in speaking of the hierarchical structure of the Church, states that the Lord “established the apostles as college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from their number” (ibid., 19). And it continues, “this college, in so far as it is composed of many members, is the expression of the variety and universality of the people of God” (ibid., 22). In the Church, variety, which is itself a great treasure, is always grounded in the harmony of unity, like a great mosaic in which every small piece joins with others as part of God’s one great plan. This should inspire us to work always to overcome every conflict which wounds the body of the Church. United in our differences: this is the way of Jesus! The pallium, while being a sign of communion with the Bishop of Rome and with the universal church, also commits each of you to being a servant of communion.
To confess the Lord by letting oneself be taught by God; to be consumed by love for Christ and his Gospel; to be servants of unity. These, dear brother bishops, are the tasks which the holy apostles Peter and Paul entrust to each of us, so that they can be lived by every Christian. May the holy Mother of God guide us and accompany us always with her intercession. Queen of Apostles, pray for us! Amen.