One in the Lord: Cardinal Rigali receives pallium at St. peters

By MICHELLE LAQUE JOHNSON
CS&T Editor

On June 29, 44 men of God, including four Americans, received the
pallium from Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
However, only one was a Cardinal — Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, and as such, he was the first to be honored. He was also one of two prelates who concelebrated Mass with the Pope.
“The pallium is the expression of the unity of the metropolitan Archbishop with the Holy Father and, therefore, with the universal Church,” said Cardinal Rigali. “It’s also the expression of unity of all the bishops of the province — all of the dioceses of Pennsylvania — and the metropolitan.”
The white woolen band with its three black crosses is worn by the metropolitan archbishop in liturgical celebrations. It is bestowed upon the bishop by the Pope on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
The ceremony was moved to this feast day by Pope John Paul II to show the relevance of the apostles to the Church, the Cardinal said. Peter is the first bishop of Rome, who received the keys of the Kingdom directly from Jesus Christ and Paul was the great missionary who extended the Church to the ends of the earth.
So, in the days before the ceremony, the pallium is placed before the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica. The pallium has such importance to bishops that they are buried with it.
In a ceremony that has to be experienced to be fully appreciated, the bishops received their pallium beneath the shadow of the apostles whose images stand atop St. Peter’s. The grandeur and sheer scale of St. Peter’s, the Vatican, and most of Catholic Rome, make those participating in such ceremonies realize that they are part of something much bigger than themselves.
“We see ourselves as part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,” said Bishop-elect Joseph R. Cistone, V.G., “but we are really part of the bigger Church.”
The bishop-elect said he was particularly struck by this sentence from the Pope’s Apostolic Exhortation to bishops on Oct. 16, 2003, which speaks of the unity of bishops: “[A bishop] is ... never alone because he is always and continuously united with his brothers in the episcopate and with the one whom the Lord has chosen as the Successor of Peter” (Pastores Gregis, #8).
Adding to this year’s ceremony, which was attended by about 20,000 people, was the special appearance of Bartholomew I, Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople.
“Every year on the feasts of Saints Peter and Paul, the Patriarch sends a representative to the Pope,” Cardinal Rigali said. “And every year on the feast of St. Andrew, the Pope sends a representative to Constantinople.”
The ritual shows that we are brothers with the Eastern Orthodox Church, despite the division that still exists. This year, however, the Patriarch did not send a delegate. He came himself to commemorate the 40th anniverary of an encounter in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI and Athenagoras, the Patriarch of that time. This tradition resulted from that extraordinary meeting.
The two churches are striving toward unity so, as a sign of that effort, the homily was shared by the Pope and the Patriarch.
“We pray that all Christians may be brought together in the unity of Christ,” said Cardinal Rigali — just as all Catholics are made one in the Eucharist. “We are a Eucharistic people. We see just how much we belong to the universal Church.”
The Cardinal is a symbol of such unity himself, having had the extraordinary honor of working under four Vicars of Christ –– Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II.
“[Cardinal Rigali] was there when Pope John Paul II was shot,” said the Cardinal’s older brother Henry Rigali. “He was the one who had to walk out on the balcony and inform the crowd the Pope was okay. He had to do that. He was so very close with his Pope.”
Among his many assignments, Cardinal Rigali served in the Office of the Secretary of State, handling the affairs of various English-speaking bishops as they made their five-year ad limina visits to the Pope to report on the affairs of their dioceses.
Later, the Pope appointed him to the Congregation for Bishops, where he screened the names submitted for bishops in all countries except the Orient, said Henry, who used to visit with his brother between flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
“He reviewed these [names] with the Pope,” Henry said. “The Pope asked him to go to St. Louis. His predecessor was very prominent, but he had cancer and had to resign. He died shortly after the appointment was made.”
Cardinal Rigali loved and was much beloved in St. Lous, which is where his sister — St. Joseph of Carondelet Sister Charlotte — was serving in the marriage tribunal. He came to Philadelphia at the request of the Pope.
“Philadelphia is a bigger archdiocese — an important one for the Pope,” Henry said. “He named someone he knows, who has a record [of accomplishment]. The Pope wanted him in America as the kind of person he wanted as a spokesperson for the Catholic Church in the United States.”
This year, bishops receiving the pallium hailed from four American cities: Boston; St. Louis; Hartford, Conn., and of course, Philadelphia. All were followed to Rome by friends, colleagues and family. Cardinal Rigali was no exception.
In addition to family and many priests from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, many laity made the pilgrimmage — and they have been rewarded by an extraordinary series of Masses celebrated by the Cardinal as well as a celebration dinner in addition to the event itself.
Those traveling to Rome included Maryalice Devlin and her aunt Jane Silverhorn. The two were also in Rome in October when Archbishop Justin Rigali was made a Cardinal.
Dr. Frank Ritter, nephew of the late Cardinal Joseph Ritter of St. Louis, and his wife, Trudy, also made the pilgrimmage. When Cardinal Rigali was archbishop of St. Louis, he wanted to move Cardinal Ritters’ remains from a cemetary to a crypt in the cathedral there. Before he did, however, he asked if the late Cardinal had any living relatives and that’s when he was introduced to the Ritters, who were delighted to give him permission.
“Cardinal Rigali raised funds to erect the Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory High School, which is two blocks from the main campus of St. Louis University,” the Ritters said proudly.
However, no one is as proud of the Cardinal as his family.
“My sister and I are amazed to see our baby brother,” said Henry. “We often think: Where did he learn that talent?”
Henry described his brother as a warm-hearted and friendly person who makes friends easily and who could easily have done well in another career. But Henry said the family knew that would never be because the Cardinal’s vocation was clear from an early age and he has remained steadfast throughout his extraordinary career.
Said Henry, “He is devoted to the Catholic Church and the Pope. One thing you can say about Cardinal Rigali, his life is the Church.”

Contact Michelle Laque Johnson at (215) 587-3698 or mjohnson@adphila.org.