The Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Monrovia, Reverend Dr. Gabriel Blamoh Snosio Jubwe, has been conferred on the honor of the “Pallium” from the Holy Father Pope Francis.
On June 29, 2024, along with other newly consecrated Archbishops around the world, Rev. Dr. Jubwe received the Pallium from Pope Francis during the Mass/Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul.
The Pallium in the Catholic Church is a liturgical vestment worn over the chasuble by the Pope and Archbishops that symbolizes the sharing of the communion of brotherhood among bishops, regardless of the place they stay.
Speaking Sunday, August 4, 2024 at the Pallium Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Monrovia, the Apostolic Nuncio to Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia, Most Reverend Walter Erbin, on behalf of the Pope placed the Pallium on the shoulder of Archbishop Jubwe, saying, the conferring exercise is a fulfillment of the Holy Father tradition for new archbishops which signifies the good shepherd shouldering a lamb, since the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, the Shepherd of the World is placed on the archbishops because they are the shepherds of their respective dioceses.
According to Archbishop Erbin, the Pallium also reminds archbishops of their responsibility to humanity with a caution that they are to save the lost sheep by winning them unto Christ.
The Pope’s Representative disclosed that the Pallium is a liturgical vestment that dates to the 4th century and eventually became associated with Bishops, and by the 11th century, Metropolitan Archbishops had to seek permission from the Pope to wear it.
“This developed into an annual celebration where the newly appointed Archbishops from around the world would travel to Rome and be given the Pallium from the Roman Pontiff,” he said.
Archbishop Erbin revealed that the symbolism of the Pallium is rich in meaning.
He narrated that the Pallia are made of wool from lambs that are presented on the feast of St. Agnes of Rome (on January 21), whose name became associated with the Latin word for lamb (agnus). However, he has called on Catholics to pray for the good health of the universal head of the church along with the Metropolitan Archbishop as he wears the pallium leading the church in Liberia. For his part, Archbishop Jubwe expressed joy of joining the Pope and other archbishops in Rome last June where the Pallium was blessed by Pope Francis with an instruction to the Nuncios to have it imposed formally on the new archbishops before the bishops and faithful in the metropolitan church.
Expressing joy, Archbishop Jubwe said wearing the pallium as archbishop charges him with great responsibility to open the doors of the gospel using ministries to help build a church and a society of open doors. “I am reminded that this responsibility is not just a great one, but the responsibility to embrace service to humanity and to seek the common good, to work and collaborate with the governments in the promotion in furtherance not to the division of the church, but assuring that the people of God are feed, realizing the goals are fulfilled,” he said. Reverend Dr. Jubwe noted that the task is an initiative that requires collective working, using different apostolic measures to get across the different sectors and working with God to make sure that every human being meets an ultimate fulfillment and is fed with the gospel.
