Sourced online from the Vatican Media by Tracy Cabrera
MANILA — On celebrating the Holy Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica today with the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Leo XIV blessed and imposed the pallia on the newly appointed metropolitan archbishops from around the world.
Among the recipients were three Filipino archbishops who were formally recognized as church leaders who serve both their local dioceses and the wider Catholic communion with Rome.
The Filipinos are Archbishop Alberto Uy of Cebu, Archbishop Charlie Inzon of Cotabato and Archbishop David William Antonio of Nueva Segovia, Ilocos Sur.
Uy, 59, was appointed archbishop of Cebu on July 16, 2025, and installed on September 30. Inzon, 60, was appointed archbishop of Cotabato on September 8, 2025, and installed on Dec. 8. Antonio, 62, was appointed archbishop of Nueva Segovia on November 4, 2025, and installed on January 14, 2026.
The pallium, made from white wool and worn over the shoulders by metropolitan archbishops during liturgical celebrations within their ecclesiastical provinces, signifies their pastoral responsibility, their unity with the pope and their active role as shepherds of the flock entrusted to them.
The vestment is marked with six black silk crosses and secured with three pins, traditionally recalling the nails used in Christ’s crucifixion. The wool used to make the pallia comes from lambs traditionally blessed each year on the feast of St. Agnes. The pallia are then kept overnight near the tomb of St. Peter before being blessed by the pope during the June 29 liturgy.
Ahead of the ceremony, Uy asked the faithful to pray “for me and for my fellow archbishops, that the Lord may grant us safe travel and help us to be faithful shepherds of His people.
ia/xf
