Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin is travelling to the Vatican today where he will have a private engagement with Pope Francis.
The Pontiff will bless and present a pallium – a woollen strip worn around the neck of the Archbishop – after concelebrated Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, Rome.
The presentation will take place privately on Monday, June 29, which is the Feast of St Peter and St Paul.
And, upon his return to Armagh, Archbishop Martin will have his formal investiture with the pallium in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh.
The public are invited to the special occasion, with Mass at 7pm on Saturday, July 4.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Charles Brown, will conduct the formal investiture, with bishops and representatives from the nine Dioceses in the Ecclesastical Province of Armagh present.
The pallium is worn to symbolise the bond between an Archbishop and the Pope. It dates back to the 4th Century and predates the miter and crozier as episcopal symbols.
