On Palma’s shoulders

In a solemn ceremony broadcast to the world from Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican yesterday, Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma and at least 40 other archbishops received from Pope Benedict XVI the pallium—a strip of wool with embroidered crosses worn around the neck to symbolize unity with the pope in the service of shepherding.

Pope Benedict, in his homily, was clear when he explained the meaning of the ritual.

He told the archbishops that, among other things, the pallium “reminds us that we, too, as shepherds in his service, are to carry others with us, taking them as it were upon our shoulders and bringing them to Christ. It reminds us that we are called to be shepherds of his flock, which always remains his and does not become ours.”

This carrying of others occurs, not in some ethereal dimension but in this world, which is why in spite of all the cultural depiction of the Church as an anachronism, its intervention is still sought in temporal affairs.

In the time since his installation as Cebu archbishop in January, various sectors have sought to bring the kind of moral impetus only an archbishop can to their causes.

Early this year, environmental lobbyists sought an audience with Palma to try to bring him to their side in the fight against “dirty” coal as a source of energy.
The archbishop did not promise anything but said that he would take a stand once he has thoroughly studied the issue.

With this week’s inauguration of a 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Naga, green crusader Vince Cinches said that his group, too, will enjoin Palma in their advocacy for clean energy.

During the third anniversary of the sinking of Sulpicio Lines’ MV Princess of the Stars, relatives of the victims sought Palma’s help in the retrieval of still-missing bodies and restitution from the shipping line. While the archbishop did not make any commitment in public, he gave the victims a listening ear and his paternal presence.

Palma’s succor was also sought by displaced settlers of Mahiga Creek. Palma assured them that he was willing to talk with Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama about their fate following the clearing of the waterway to prevent flooding in the city.

Palma’s pallium was conferred in the Vatican, but the realities the woolen stole symbolizes are mostly on the homefront.

Palma has to engage all these realities as a shepherd along with his tasks as vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, which is in the thick of war against the Reproductive Health bill, divorce bill and the potentially religious freedom-compromising items of the anti-discrimination bill. The battle will be fierce.

Other archdioceses in the world have not fared well. The New York legislature legalized same-sex marriages despite protests from New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan.

The pallium should be a source of consolation for Archbishop Palma in the days to come.

At the very least it reminds him that he does not battle alone. As Pope Benedict said, the pallium “also means quite concretely the communion of the shepherds of the Church with Peter and with his successors.”