Archbishop Gomez Receives the Pallium
On June 29, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Archbishop Gomez received the pallium from Pope Benedict along with about 40 other newly appointed Archbishops. More than 250 Angelinos attended the pallium Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, cheering so loudly when Archbishop Gomez was announced that the other Archbishops were asking where he was from. Said by some to symbolize lost sheep, the pallium is a narrow band, “three fingers broad,” woven from white lamb’s wool from sheep raised by the Trappist Monks from the Abby of the Three Fountains, which is on the site of the martyrdom of St. Paul. These sheep are blessed by the Pope on the Feast of St. Angus (January 21). The Religious Sisters of St. Cecilia sheer the sheep and make the pallium. The pallium, decorated with six black crosses, can only be worn by the pope and archbishops who are metropolitans (the head of a province consisting of several dioceses). It signifies their participation in the supreme pastoral power of the pope.
