Pallium
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
8 Jul 2001
The last week of June saw perfect summer weather in Rome; hot, no clouds or rain, except for half an hour on the feast of saints Peter and Paul, the great apostles who founded the Roman Christian community and were martyred there nearly 2000 years ago.
Pope John Paul II was conferring the pallium, or ceremonial collar, on 36 Archbishops from 21 countries in an open air Mass in St. Peter's Square when we were hit by a quality Sydney storm, fierce thunder and buckets of rain.
a squeal ran through the crowd and 20 per cent fled for shelter. We were drenched. Umbrellas arrived late, and as the Mass continued a spent 15 minutes huddled under one in the Papal colours with the Archbishop of Florence.
Popes have been conferring the pallium on bishops since the sixth century at least and it is now given to Archbishops of major cities to symbolise Catholic unity around the Pope, the successor of St. Peter. Sydney was honoured with cities like Washington, Delhi and Acapulco.
The pallium itself is made of white wool to be worn around the neck at major ceremonies. The wool comes from lambs blessed in Rome on the feast of St. Agnes (January 21), who are cared for by Benedictine nuns in Trastevere (a Roman suburb little changed in centuries in the ancient Jewish quarter). When made up the pallia are blessed by the Pope and placed overnight on the eve of the feast on the tomb of St. Peter in St. Peter's basilica. During the ceremony the Archbishops promise allegiance to the Pope, led in this case by Denis Hart, the new Archbishop of Melbourne and the last appointed before the ceremony. Having two Archbishops receiving the pallium on the same day was an Australian first.
In 1997 a had received a pallium as Archbishop of Melbourne and one unusual tradition is that this will not be used again until my death, when it will be placed under my head in my coffin.
By coincidence June 29th was also the day when Dr. Peter Jensen, the new Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, was consecrated. A prayed during our ceremony and beforehand when a visited Peter's tomb, under Berninni's spectacular "Baldachino" that God might bless him and his Archdiocese. The original St. Peter's was built by Constantine, the first Christian emperor in the fourth century, over Peter's traditional burial place. Today you can walk through this ancient Roman cemetery, first excavated during the Second World War.
It is always a moving experience to concelebrate and pray with the Pope, bishops, priests and people from many different cultures, often leading lives more difficult than ours. It reminds us that we have only a small, brief part in an immense and age-old tradition of worship and service centred on Jesus Christ.
This was true on this occasion too, but it is harder to pray when you are sopping wet. Distractions abound and a kept thinking of a saying of my mother "It is the fun of Cork to be alive and the will of God to be flat footed". With the red dye from our outer vestments staining the white albs, one had to work harder for reverence and recollection.
But life is like this. Christ was born in a stable and crucified on a rubbish tip. A am sure he would have needed a sense of humour.
