Pope Francis presented the pallium June 29 to 33 new archbishops appointed in past year
VATICAN CITY — While Jesus entrusted St. Peter with the keys to the kingdom more than two millennia ago, and St. Peter’s modern-day successor conferred apostolic authority to newly appointed archbishops June 29, it is ultimately God who holds the power to open the Church’s doors and lead the Christian community forward in its mission of evangelization, Pope Francis said.
Reflecting on the apostle Peter’s liberation from prison after an angel opened his cell, the pope said God “is the one who sets us free and opens the way before us” in his homily during Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29.
He noted that the Christians Peter sought out after his liberation did not believe he was knocking at their door, mistaking him for an angel.
“This point is significant: The doors of the prison were opened by the Lord’s strength, but Peter then found it hard to enter the house of the Christian community,” he said. “How many times have communities not learned this wisdom of the need to open the doors!”
Before 33 newly appointed archbishops gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica to receive their palliums — woolen bands worn by archbishops to symbolize their pastoral authority and unity with the pope — Pope Francis underscored the model of St. Paul as one who “discovers the grace of weakness.”
“When we are weak, he tells us, it is then that we are strong, because we no longer rely on ourselves, but on Christ,” the pope said.
Yet he explained that relying on Christ “does not lead to a consoling, inward-looking religiosity like that found in a few movements in the Church today,” noting instead that St. Paul’s encounter with God ignited within him “a burning zeal for evangelization.”
Both Sts. Peter and Paul “witnessed first-hand the work of God, who opened the doors of their interior prisons but also the actual prisons into which they were thrown because of the Gospel,” he said, as well as the “doors of evangelization, so they could have the joy of encountering their brothers and sisters in the fledgling communities and bring the hope of the Gospel to all.”
After the entrance procession, deacons brought out the palliums from the tomb of St. Peter for Pope Francis to bless them. The palliums, made from the wool of lambs blessed by the pope on the feast of St. Agnes — who is often depicted with a lamb to symbolize purity — emphasize the role of the archbishop as a pastor who guides and protects his flock.
Among the 33 archbishops were Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne of Hartford, Connecticut, and Archbishop Thomas R. Zinkula of Dubuque, Iowa. Both U.S. archbishops brought members of their families with them to Rome to witness them receive their palliums from the pope.
