VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will bestow the pallium on the 34 metropolitan archbishops named in the last year, including five from the United States, two from Canada and one from the United Kingdom.
The ceremony will take place in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.
The pallium, worn by the Pope and archbishops, symbolizes the lost sheep that is found again, carried on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd, and the Lamb crucified for the salvation of humanity. It also symbolizes, in part, the Pope’s concession of authority and communion to heads of major local Churches.
Ten of the archbishops hail from North America:
— Allen Vigneron of Detroit, Michigan
— Timothy Dolan of New York
— Robert Carlson of St. Louis, Missouri
— George Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska
— Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, Louisiana
— Pierre-André Fournier of Rimouski, Quebec
— John Michael Miller of Vancouver, British Columbia
— Domingo Díaz Martínez of Tulancingo, Mexico
— Víctor Sánchez Espinosa of Puebla de Los Angeles, Mexico
— Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico.
Seven of the archbishops are from South America:
— Ismael Rueda Sierra of Bucaramanga, Colombia
— Manuel Felipe Díaz Sánchez of Calabozo, Venezuela
— José Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador, El Salvador
— Sérgio da Rocha of Teresina, Brazil
— Maurício Grotto de Camargo of Botucatu, Brazil
— Gil Antônio Moreira of Juiz de Fora, Brazil
— Orani João Tempesta of San Sebastián do Río de Janeiro, Brazil.
Eight are from Europe:
— Vincent Nichols of Westminster, England
— Andrzej Dziega of Szczecin-Kamien, Poland
— Carlos Osoro Sierra of Valencia, Spain
— Braulio Rodríguez Plaza of Toledo, Spain
— Giuseppe Betori of Florence, Italy
— Salvatore Pappalardo of Syracuse, Italy
— Domenico Umberto D’Ambrosio of Lecce, Italy.
— Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of the Latin Archdiocese of Lviv, Ukraine.
Six are from Africa:
— Philippe Ouédraogo of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
— Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader of Algiers, Algeria
— Joseph Yapo Aké of Gagnoa, Ivory Coast
— Paul Mandla Khumalo of Pretoria, South Africa
— Marcel Utembi Tapa of Kisangani, Congo
— Philip Naameh of Tamale, Ghana.
Finally, three are from Asia:
— Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok, Thailand
— Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don of Colombo, Sri Lanka
— Anicetus Bongsu Antonius Sinaga of Medan, Indonesia.
