KENYA: Receiving Pallium More than Once: An Explainer by Archbishop Anyolo
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
of Nairobi Archdiocese
Credit: Courtesy photo
In the Roman Catholic Church, the pallium which is an ecclesiastical vestment is a special symbol for an Archbishop just as the bishop’s pastoral staff also known as crosier characterizes a Bishop.
Catholics may be aware of an Archbishop receiving a pallium after his appointment but may not be very familiar with circumstances when a specific Prelate may receive the vestment more than once.
On Tuesday, September 13, AMECEA online had an exclusive interview with Archbishop Philip Arnold Anyolo of Kenya’s Nairobi Archdiocese who recently received Pallium for the second time and made clarifications on such circumstances.
AMECEA Online: In the year 2019, you received a Pallium after your appointed as the Archbishop of Kisumu Archdiocese, and again this year in August you were vestured with Pallium for the second time as the Archbishop of Nairobi, why were you given the Pallium twice?
Archbishop Anyolo: The Holy Father gives Pallium to a Metropolitan Archbishop which means one with a territory. An Archbishop without a territory do not get a Pallium like in the situation of a Nuncio, they are Archbishops and since they do not have a territory they don’t have the Pallium.
It is possible that An Archbishop can receive Pallium more than once and this is in situations of transfers from one Archdiocese to another. Since Pallium is given for a specific territory, it cannot be used in another territory and this is why when an Archbishop gets a new appointment, he receives another Pallium.
In my case, when I was appointed as the Archbishop of Kisumu Archdiocese, the Pallium I was given could only be used within the metropolitan of Kisumu and that is why when I was transferred to Nairobi Archdiocese, I received another one which I can only use within the jurisdiction of Nairobi.
Receiving Pallium more than once has happened several times in the Church and it is given as many times as an Archbishop gets transferred.
AMECEA Online: Does it mean you now have the two Pallia which you can use interchangeably?
Archbishop Anyolo: Yes I have two pallia but I cannot use them interchangeably. The one I received in Kisumu is now like a souvenir and I cannot use it while here in Nairobi Archdiocese. This means I have one Pallium and if I have to use the one I was given in Kisumu, I must get permission from the Holy See with genuine reason.
This just confirms that a Pallium is for a given territory and for an individual, that is why it does not remain in the Archdiocese but the owner moves with it to the new place of appointment and in case of death the Archbishop is buried with it.
AMECEA Online: In the past, imposition of the Pallium used to done by the Pope but of late the Nuncio does it, what brought about the shift?
Archbishop Anyolo: This shift originated from Pope Francis. He looked at the investiture of the pallium from pastoral point of view and authorized the ceremony to be done by the Apostolic Nuncio at the new Archbishop’s home Archdiocese among his people. Since then the Archbishops only collect the Pallium from Rome, the Pope then gives them the vestment using a specific formula, the Archbishops then carry the pallia back to their Archdioceses where the imposition is done officially by the Apostolic Nuncio.
AMECEA Online: Archbishops normally collect the Pallium from Pope in Rome on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, what happens in situations when an Archbishop cannot be in Rome to receive the Pallium by himself from Pope, can he delegate someone to collect on his behalf?
Archbishop Anyolo: In this case, the Pallium is sent by the Holy See in a diplomatic bag to the nunciature with a Papal bull attached to it. The Apostolic Nuncio will then open the box in the presence of the Archbishop, reads out the Papal bull and asks the new Archbishop of his acceptance.
AMECEA Online: Any other information in relation to receiving pallium?
Archbishop Anyolo: Just as a new Bishop receives a staff for a given Diocese and when transferred he leaves it behind and is installed with a new staff in the new Diocese, is the same way the Archbishop receives the Pallium and when transferred he gets another one.
Traditionally the staff was earmarked with the people themselves as a sign their call for evangelization by that new Local Ordinary. Normally the Staff is given by the people in the Diocese.
Though us in the Mission world, we are under Propaganda Fide and normally we get the vestments as a donation from Rome that is the Ring, Mitre, skullcap, Cassock and pectoral cross.
