Ecumenical flavour at Pope's Mass of Sts. Peter and Paul

28 June, 2013 - The celebration of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, on Saturday, June 29, will have an ecumenical flavour in the Vatican, when Pope Francis will observe a tradition bestowing the pallium on 34 new metropolitan archbishops from around the world. The Holy Father will bestow the pallium at the start of the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, which will be attended by a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, in Istanbul, Turkey. Singing at the Mass will also be the Thomanerchor, or St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig, Germany, of the Lutherans, founded way back in 1212. The pallium is a band of white wool worn by metropolitan archbishops around their shoulders as a symbol of their authority and their unity with the Pope. Among the 34 new metropolitan archbishops from 19 countries, appointed in the course of last year, are three Indians: Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), appointed in July and Archbishops George Antonysamy of Madras Mylapore and Anil Couto of Delhi, both appointed in November.
There are two other Asians among the 34 new archbishops - Filipino Archbishop Rolando Tirona of Caceres and Malaysian Archbishop John Wong Soo Kau of Kota Kinabalu. Besides the 34, there is another archbishop, Francios Xavier Le Van Hong of Hue, Vietnam, who is unable to be present on Saturday in the Vatican. The pallium will be sent to him.