Caceres archbishop receives pallium from Pope Francis

Caceres archbishop receives pallium from Pope Francis

Archbishop Rex Andrew Alarcon of Caceres joined 41 other archbishops appointed over the past year who received pallium from Pope Francis on Saturday.

The pope handed Alarcon the newly blessed pallium folded up in a small wooden box tied with a brown ribbon during Mass for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter Basilica at the Vatican.

The pope gave the archbishops the pallium, a woven band of lambs wool, as a sign of their communion with him and their pastoral responsibility as shepherds.

In his homily, the pope invited them to be “zealous shepherds who open the doors of the Gospel, and through their ministry, help to build a Church and a society of open doors.”

The pallium is a stole-like vestment worn by metropolitan archbishops over their chasuble when celebrating Mass. It is about two inches wide and is worn on the shoulders.

Traditionally, new bishops were invested with the pallia by the pope at the same June 29 Mass.

In 2015, however, the pope changed this policy so that bishops would be invested with the pallia in their archdioceses by the local apostolic nuncio, as a sign of ‘synodality’ with local churches.

“The investiture of the pallium will take place here in Caceres at a later date,” the archdiocese posted on social media.

Alarcon, 53, was appointed by the pope as archbishop of Caceres on February 22. He was installed to his new post on May 2.