When an archbishop is appointed to a new archdiocese, he requests a pallium from the Holy See. The pallium is a scarf, or stole-like vestment that is worn over the chasuble when the archbishop celebrates Mass. It is about two inches wide, and it rests on the shoulders, with pendants or lappets that hang about 12 inches in the front and the back. When viewed from the front or the back, the pallium resembles the letter “Y.” It is white, with six black crosses. Three of those crosses, the ones on the front, back and left shoulder, are ornamented with a gold pin, symbolizing the three nails of Christ’s crucifixion. Some of the white wool of the pallium comes from two lambs that are blessed each year by the Holy Father on Jan. 21, the feast of St. Agnes. (See sidebar) In addition, each of the pendants that hang in front and back are tipped with black satin, resembling the hoof of a lamb; thus the imagery being that of the archbishop, the chief shepherd of the diocese, carrying a lamb on his shoulders, in imitation of Christ the Good Shepherd. Originally, the pallium was worn only by the pope. The pope now gives it to metropolitan archbishops as a sign of their unity with him. Every diocese is part of a collection of dioceses called a province. In the United States, the provinces most often, but not always, are designated by state lines. The five dioceses of Illinois —Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield — are a province. Each province has an archdiocese, which is called the Metropolitan See. Thus the archbishop of that diocese is the metropolitan archbishop, and he presides over, although has no jurisdiction over, the dioceses of that province. Archbishop Cupich is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Chicago. The conferral of the pallium on a new archbishop is part of the rite of installation of archbishop in his cathedral church. That is, when a new archbishop is received in his cathedral and he takes possession of the archdiocese, the nuncio, who is the pope’s delegate in the United States, traditionally would confer the pallium as part of the rite. However, some 32 years ago, St. John Paul II took the investiture of the pallium out of the rite of installation, and instead invested archbishops himself in Rome on June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. Pope Francis decided in January that new archbishops will once again receive the pallium in their own cathedrals, in the midst of their own people. Presumably, the conferral of the pallium will again be part of the rite of installation.