New Bishops Honored Ex-Yakima Man Among 29 To Receive Symbolic Vestment

On a sweltering Roman Sunday, Pope John Paul II presented a wool scarf to Archbishop Francis George, the former bishop of Yakima.

The white and black vestment - called a pallium - is emblematic of George’s authority over his new flock. George, who was named to succeed the late Cardinal Joseph Bernadin in April, was one of 29 Catholic bishops who received a pallium from the pontiff during a special Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.

George was the bishop of Yakima for six years, until he was appointed archbishop of Portland. The pallium is a 2-inch wide circular band of woven lambswool embroidered with six crosses of black silk. It is worn around the collar with single lappets draped front and back.

The wool for palli comes from two lambs blessed by the pope each year on the feast of St. Agnes. The shorn wool is then taken to the Benedictine Sisters of St. Cecilia in Trastevere who, by tradition, weave the palli.

The day before the ceremony, the palli are blessed by the pope and then spend the night in a silver urn stowed in the crypt beneath the basilica’s main altar where St. Peter’s remains reputedly rest.

On Sunday, the 29 bishops who were to receive the palli led the solemn procession up the main aisle of St. Peter’s.

Wearing red chasubles and majestic white miters, they represented every corner of the church’s realm - Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas.

George was one of two Americans receiving the pallium. The other was the new archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput.

John Paul II, who has resumed a busy travel schedule but appears to be exceedingly frail, took time to speak with each of the kneeling bishops.

The Chicago archbishop is scheduled to have a private audience with the pope today. The following day, he will travel to Assisi, the birthplace of his patron saint, Francis of Assisi. George will return to Chicago on July 5.