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On June 29, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Suva’s new Archbishop, Peter Chong, with 35 other metropolitan bishops from all over the world, was in the Vatican to receive his pallium from Pope Francis.
In the Catholic Church, ecclesiastical provinces, composed of several neighbouring dioceses, are each headed by a metropolitan, the archbishop of the diocese designated by the Pope. The other bishops are known as suffragan bishops.
The pallium is a symbol of Archbishop Chong’s position as the metropolitan Archbishop of Suva. The suffragan dioceses are Rarotonga, Tarawa and Nauru.
Chong says the pallium, which is given by the Pope to Metropolitan Archbishops among other things, is a “symbol of the metropolitan bishops’ communion with the Pope”.
He said that the feast of saints Peter and Paul Mass held in St Peter’s Basilica symbolised our traditions which we inherited from the apostles and handed down by the various popes.
He described the whole liturgy as “very solemn and embracing”.
“For me, it’s the experience of being part of a 2000-year tradition, back to Saints Peter and Paul and the apostles. I am part of the ongoing history of God’s revelation”.
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