Archbishops of Edinburgh and Liverpool receive pallium

NEW Archbishops of Liverpool and Edinburgh were among 24 prelates to receive the pallium from Pope Francis in Rome on Sunday, writes Liz Dodd.

The pallium, a strip of cloth partly made from the wool of two lambs blessed by the Pope annually on the feast of St Agnes, is bestowed on metropolitan archbishops as a symbol of jurisdiction and of communion with the See of Peter. It recalls the sheep carried around the neck of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ himself.

In a pastoral letter to the Archdiocese of Liverpool, its new archbishop, Malcolm McMahon, who is also chairman of the Catholic Education Service, reflected that the pallium is “a reminder to model [the life and ministry of the pastor] on the example of the Good Shepherd”.
Before the ceremony, Archbishop Leo Cushley, who became the Archbishop of Edinburgh in September last year, thanked people from the archdiocese, including many young people, who travelled to Rome for the occasion.

This week, all the new archbishops and members of their families were due to have a private audience with Pope Francis.