Pope Francis: Mass and Angelus on Sts Peter and Paul
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis marked the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul with Mass
in St Peter’s Basilica, during which he imposed the pallium on thirty-four of the
metropolitan archbishops installed over the past year. The pallium is the white, shawl-like
woolen liturgical vestment worn over the shoulders of a metropolitan archbishop, which
is the peculiar sign of a metropolitan’s office: it specifically symbolizes authority
and union with the Holy See. Each year on the feast, the Metropolitan archbishops
installed during the course of the preceding year travel to Rome to receive the vestment.
The solemnity is also one of the two days in the liturgical year in which the ancient
bronze statue of St Peter in the basilica is symbolically vested in an ornate red
silk cope and crowned with the triple tiara. Listen to our report:
After processing
into the basilica with the thirty-four new metropolitans and hearing the readings,
Pope Francis delivered a homily in which he focused on the mystery of the Petrine
ministry as one particularly ordered to confirming all Christians everywhere in faith,
love and unity. “Faith in Christ,” said Pope Francis, “is the light of our life as
Christians.“ Addressing himself to the new metropolitans, the Pope said, “To confess
the Lord by letting oneself be taught by God; to be consumed by love for Christ and
his Gospel; to be servants of unity. These, dear brother bishops, are the tasks which
the holy apostles Peter and Paul entrust to each of us, so that they can be lived
by every Christian.”
This was a theme to which the Holy Father returned after
Mass, in remarks to the faithful gathered in St Peter's square for the Angelus prayer.
“What a joy it is to believe in a God who is all Love, all Grace,” he said. Also at
the Angelus, Pope Francis also greeted the delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate
of Constantinople, led by Metropolitan Ioannis Zizoulas. “Let us not forget that Peter
had a brother, Andrew,” said Pope Francis, “who met Jesus first, spoke of Him to Peter
and took Peter to meet [the Lord].”
Then Pope Francis asked all the gathered
faithful to join him in praying a Hail Mary for Patriarch Bartholomew.
In conclusion,
the Holy Father greeted all the pilgrim faithful who, from every part of the world,
were come to celebrate the feast in Rome.
Below, please find a list of
the thirty-four metropolitans to receive the pallium:
Patriarch Manuel
Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente of Lisbon, Portugal; Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga
of Bangui, Central African Republic; Archbishop Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli of
Gorizia, Italy; Archbishop Claudio Dalla Zuanna of Beira, Mozambique; Archbishop
Prakash Mallavarapu of Visakhapatnam, India; Archbishop Antonio Carlos Altieri
of Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Lodz,
Poland; Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow, Scotland; Archbishop Salvatore
Joseph Cordileone of San Francisco, California; Archbishop Rolando Joven Tria
Tirona of Caceres, Philippines; Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera Lopez of Monterrey,
Mexico; Archbishop Joseph William Tobin of Indianapolis, Indiana; Archbishop
Carlos Maria Franzini of Mendoza, Argentina; Archbishop Lorenzo Ghizzoni of Ravenna-Cervia,
Italy; Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras and Mylapore, India; Archbishop
Anil Joseph Thomas Couto of Delhi, India; Archbishop John Wong Soo Kau of Kota
Kinabalu, Malaysia; Archbishop Murray Chatlain of Keewatin-Le Pas, Manitoba; Archbishop
Sérgio Eduardo Castriani of Manaus, Brazil; Archbishop Peter Loy Chong of Suva,
Fiji Islands; Archbishop Alfonso Cortes Contreras of Leon, Mexico; Archbishop
Alexander King Sample of Portland, Oregon; Archbishop Joseph Effiong Ekuwem of
Calabar, Nigeria; Archbishop Jesus Juarez Parraga of Sucre, Bolivia; Archbishop
Fabio Martinez Castilla of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico; Archbishop Ramon Alfredo
Dus of Resistencia, Argentina; Archbishop Mario Aurelio Poli of Buenos Aires,
Argentina; Archbishop Gintaras Linas Grusas of Vilnius, Lithuania; Archbishop
Michael Owen Jackels of Dubuque, Iowa; Archbishop Duro Hranic of Dakovo-Osijek,
Croatia; Archbishop Moacir Silva of Ribeirao Preto, Brazil; Archbishop Jozef
Piotr Kupny of Wroclaw, Poland; Archbishop Sergio Alfredo Gualberti Calandrina
of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia; Archbishop Giuseppe Petrocchi of L’Aquila,
Italy.
In addition, Archbishop Francois Xavier Le Van Hong of Hue, in
Vietnam, was unable to make the trip. He is to receive the pallium in his archdiocese. Below,
please find the English text of his homily.
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Homily
of the Holy Father Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles (Saturday, 29
June 2013)
Your Eminences, My Brother Bishops and Priests, Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
We are celebrating the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles,
principal patrons of the Church of Rome: a celebration made all the more joyful by
the presence of bishops from throughout the world. A great wealth, which makes us
in some sense relive the event of Pentecost. Today, as then, the faith of the Church
speaks in every tongue and desire to unite all peoples in one family.
I offer
a heartfelt and grateful greeting to the Delegation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople,
led by Metropolitan Ioannis. I thank Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I for this
renewed gesture of fraternity. I greet the distinguished ambassadors and civil authorities.
And in a special way I thank the Thomanerchor, the Choir of the Thomaskirche of Leipzig
– Bach’s own church – which is contributing to today’s liturgical celebration and
represents an additional ecumenical presence.
I would like to offer three
thoughts on the Petrine ministry, guided by the word “confirm”. What has the Bishop
of Rome been called to confirm?
1. First, to confirm in faith. The Gospel
speaks of the confession of Peter: “You are Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt
16:16), a confession which does not come from him but from our Father in heaven.
Because of this confession, Jesus replies: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my Church” (v. 18). The role, the ecclesial service of Peter, is founded upon
his confession of faith in Jesus, the Son of the living God, made possible by a grace
granted from on high. In the second part of today’s Gospel we see the peril of thinking
in worldly terms. When Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection, of the path of
God which does not correspond to the human path of power, flesh and blood re-emerge
in Peter: “He took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him ... This must never happen
to you” (16:22). Jesus’ response is harsh: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance
to me” (v. 23). Whenever we let our thoughts, our feelings or the logic of human
power prevail, and we do not let ourselves be taught and guided by faith, by God,
we become stumbling blocks. Faith in Christ is the light of our life as Christians
and as ministers in the Church!
2. To confirm in love. In the second reading
we heard the moving words of Saint Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tm 4:7). But what is this fight? It is not one
of those fights fought with human weapons which sadly continue to cause bloodshed
throughout the world; rather, it is the fight of martyrdom. Saint Paul has but one
weapon: the message of Christ and the gift of his entire life for Christ and for others.
It is precisely this readiness to lay himself open, personally, to be consumed for
the sake of the Gospel, to make himself all things to all people, unstintingly, that
gives him credibility and builds up the Church. The Bishop of Rome is called himself
to live and to confirm his brothers and sisters in this love for Christ and for all
others, without distinction, limits or barriers.
3. To confirm in unity. Here
I would like to reflect for a moment on the rite which we have carried out. The pallium
is a symbol of communion with the Successor of Peter, “the lasting and visible source
and foundation of the unity both of faith and of communion” (Lumen Gentium, 18).
And your presence today, dear brothers, is the sign that the Church’s communion does
not mean uniformity. The Second Vatican Council, in speaking of the hierarchical
structure of the Church, states that the Lord “established the apostles as college
or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from their number”
(ibid., 19). And it continues, “this college, in so far as it is composed of many
members, is the expression of the variety and universality of the people of God” (ibid.,
22). In the Church, variety, which is itself a great treasure, is always grounded
in the harmony of unity, like a great mosaic in which every small piece joins with
others as part of God’s one great plan. This should inspire us to work always to
overcome every conflict which wounds the body of the Church. United in our differences:
this is the way of Jesus! The pallium, while being a sign of communion with the Bishop
of Rome and with the universal church, also commits each of you to being a servant
of communion.
To confess the Lord by letting oneself be taught by God; to
be consumed by love for Christ and his Gospel; to be servants of unity. These, dear
brother bishops, are the tasks which the holy apostles Peter and Paul entrust to each
of us, so that they can be lived by every Christian. May the holy Mother of God guide
us and accompany us always with her intercession. Queen of Apostles, pray for us!
Amen.