Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool and Archbishop Mark O’Toole received the Pallium

On Sunday, June 29th, Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool and Archbishop Mark O’Toole of Cardiff-Menevia participated in a liturgical celebration at St. Peter’s Basilica, during which they received the pallium from His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV.

The ceremony was held in observance of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul and involved a ceremonial blessing and the formal presentation of the pallium to forty-eight newly appointed metropolitan archbishops, including Archbishop Sherrington and Archbishop O’Toole.

The pallium is a white woolen vestment approximately three inches in width, featuring hanging strips positioned at the front and back. It serves as a symbol of the archbishop’s unity with the Holy See and his pastoral duty to serve the faithful.

Archbishops wear the pallium during Masses within their ecclesiastical province, signifying their participation in the supreme pastoral authority of the Pope.

Historically, the use of the pallium dates back to the fourth century, with its earliest known conferral by Pope Marcus upon the Bishop of Ostia in 336. Traditionally, it is crafted from lamb’s wool blessed by the Pope on the Feast of Saint Agnes, linking each archbishop to a longstanding tradition of the Church’s pastoral mission.

Pope Leo XIV re-established the custom of personally conferring the pallium on new metropolitan archbishops, a practice that was originally instituted by Saint John Paul II in 1983 and later reaffirmed by Pope Francis.

This event marked the second occasion on which Archbishop O’Toole received the pallium, following the creation of the combined Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia in September 2024. Previously, he received the pallium as the Archbishop of Cardiff in 2022.