Three Indian archbishops to receive pallium

(June 26, 2013) Three Indians are among the 34 new metropolitan archbishops, who will receive the pallium from Pope Francis on Saturday, June 29 – the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The pallium , which is a white circular band made of lamb’s wool and is worn by archbishops around the neck, is a symbol of their authority and unity with the pope. Every year on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, prelates appointed during the past year receive the pallium from the pope.
The three Indian prelates to receive the pallium are - Archbishop Prakash Malavarapu of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh State,who was appointed 3^rd. July. Archhbishop George Anthonysamy of Madras and Mylapore, Tamilnadu State appointed archbishop 21^st. November, and Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto of Delhi, also appointed the same month..
Among the 34 archbishops expected in Rome to receive the pallium,, two others are from Asia - Archbishop John Wong Kau of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, and Archbishop Rolando Joven Tria Tirona of Carceres in the Philippines. But another the 35^th. Archbishop Francois Xavier Le Van Hong of Hue, Vietnam will be unable to make the trip, and will be sent the pallium..
The lambs, the symbol of St. Agnes who was martyred in Rome around the year 305, are raised by the Trappist Fathers of the Abbey of the Three fountains (Tre Fontane) on the outskirts of Rome. After the lambs are shorn, the wool is used to make the palliums by the nuns of the Benedictine convent of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome. Then the palliums are placed in a bronze urn near the Chair of St. Peter in the Vatican Basilica until June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, when the Pope blesses them prior to conferring them on the archbishops appointed during the year.