Archbishop Rex Andrew Alarcon of Caceres was among around 40 archbishops appointed over the past year who received a pallium from Pope Francis, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
The Pope handed Alarcon the newly blessed pallium folded up in a small wooden box tied with a brown ribbon during Mass for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter Basilica at the Vatican.
The pallium is a woven band of lambs wool that serves as a sign of their communion and pastoral responsibility as shepherds. About two inches wide and worn on the shoulders, it is a stole-like vestment worn by metropolitan archbishops over their chasuble when celebrating Mass.
The Pope in his homily invited them to be “zealous shepherds who open the doors of the Gospel, and through their ministry, help to build a Church and a society of open doors.”
Traditionally, new bishops were invested with the pallia by the pope at the same June 29 Mass. In 2015, however, the Pope changed this policy so that bishops would be invested with the pallia in their archdioceses by the local apostolic nuncio, as a sign of “synodality” with local churches.
“The investiture of the pallium will take place here in Caceres at a later date,” the archdiocese posted on social media.
Alarcon, 53, was appointed by the pope as archbishop of Caceres on February 22. He was installed to his new post on May 2.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Filipino Archbishop Alarcon receives pallium from Pope Francis