Tuguegarao Archbishop Ricardo Baccay received his sacred pallium Thursday.

(THE TUGUEGARAO ARCHDIOCESE VIA CBCP / MANILA BULLETIN)
The pallium is a vestment made of white wool worn only by the pontiff and archbishops.
The pope uses the pallium to symbolize the plenitude of pontifical office. For archbishops, it signifies the authority given to them by the pope over their respective archdioceses as well as unity with the Holy See.
CBCP News said Nueva Segovia Archbishop Marlo Peralta conferred the pallium on Baccay in a liturgy at the St. Peter Metropolitan Cathedral in Tuguegarao City.
The conferral was entrusted to Peralta as Baccay was unable to travel to Rome, Italy for the papal blessing of the pallium due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The woolen band was blessed by Pope Francis on the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul last June 29 in Rome.
According to CBCP News, while the pope continues to bless palliums and give them to new archbishops as his predecessors did, he decided in 2015 that each archbishop receives it in his archdiocese, in front of the faithful and other bishops.
In his homily, Peralta said the imposition of pallium “completes” the installation of Baccay as metropolitan archbishop of Tuguegarao.
He told Baccay that to be entrusted with an archdiocese, fairness and justice should play a role.
“You are to promote the common good. fairness and justice should be part of the overall picture in the pastoral governance of your metropolitan archdiocese,” Peralta said.
“While we need to be kind and merciful we also need to practice fairness because this is the only way that we can promote the common good,” he added.
Baccay was appointed archbishop of Tuguegarao by Pope Francis last Oct. 19, 2019 and was installed to the post on Jan. 14, 2020.