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Pope Leo XIV bestowing the pallium to Jaro Archbishop Midyphil Billones during the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul at St. Peter's Basilics on June 29, 2025.
Screenshot from Vatican News livestream
MANILA, Philippines — A liturgical vestment signifying a prelate’s communion with the pope was bestowed upon the Archbishop of Jaro, Iloilo on Sunday, June 29 (Manila time).
Pope Leo XIV conferred the pallium on Archbishop Midyphil Billones during the Mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul at St. Peter’s Basilica.
The pallium is a narrow band of white wool worn over the shoulders. It is a liturgical vestment that symbolizes an archbishop’s communion with the pope and his role as shepherd of a local church.
Aside from Billones, 48 metropolitan archbishops from around the world also received the pallium from the pontiff.
Billones was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Jaro in 1995. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Cebu in 2019 and installed as the 14th archbishop of Jaro on April 2, 2025, following the retirement of Archbishop Emeritus Jose Romeo Lazo.
In the past, popes personally imposed the pallium on new metropolitan archbishops, but in 2015, the late Pope Francis changed the policy.
Under the revised protocol, the pope blesses the palliums in Rome, and they are later imposed by the apostolic nuncio in each archbishop’s respective country.
However, during Sunday’s ceremony, Pope Leo both blessed and imposed the pallium himself.
