A holy mass for the PALLIUM Investiture Ceremony of Most Rev Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, Archbishop of Abuja Metropolitan SEE at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Pro-Cathedral area 3, Garki. Abuja was held on Thursday, August 27, 2020 as a sign of unity with the Pontiff.
The conferment of the ecclesiastical vestment sited by AGNUS-DEI MEDIA virtually was manned by the Most Rev. Antonio Filipazzi, Papal Nuncio to Nigeria with Priests, Religious, lay faithful and well-wishers gracing the occasion.
Archbishop Kaigama was earlier named as the new Archbishop for the Archdiocese of Abuja following the retirement of His Eminence John Cardinal Olurunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese.
The Prelate was marked to hold the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders in the Archdiocese of Abuja as contained in a statement signed by Rev Fr Sebastian Musa, chancellor for the Archdiocese on November 9, 2019.
Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama was born in Kona, Taraba, on 31st July 1958. He studied for the priesthood at St. Augustine’s Seminary and ordained a priest on 6 June 1981.
He earned a doctorate in theology in 1991 At the Pontifical Gregorian University on 3 February 1994, pope john paul II appointed him bishop of the newly established roman catholic diocese of jalingo and consecrated bishop on April 23, 1995.
He was President of the Nigerian Bishops’ Conference from 2012 to 2018 and President of the Episcopal Conference of West African Catholic Bishops. He is also chairman of the Plateau state- convened “Interreligious Committee for Peace”. Together with the late Emir of Wase, Alhaji Haruna Abdullahi, he has been involved in promoting mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims.
On March 11, 2019 Pope Francis named him Archbishop Coadjutor of Abuja and he became Archbishop of Abuja when Pope Francis accepted the resignation of his predecessor, Archbishop Emeritus John Onaiyekan , on 9 November 2019.
Explaining the pallium, its significance- (Sourced from Chicagocatholic.com)
When an archbishop is appointed to a new archdiocese, he requests a pallium from the Holy See. The pallium is a scarf or stole-like vestment that is worn over the chasuble when the archbishop celebrates Mass. It is about two inches wide, and it rests on the shoulders, with pendants or lappets that hang about 12 inches in the front and the back.
When viewed from the front or the back, the pallium resembles the letter “Y.” It is white, with six black crosses. Three of those crosses, the ones on the front, back and left shoulder, are ornamented with a gold pin, symbolizing the three nails of Christ’s crucifixion.
Some of the white wool of the pallium comes from two lambs that are blessed each year by the Holy Father on Jan. 21, the feast of St. Agnes.
In addition, each of the pendants that hang in front and back are tipped with black satin, resembling the hoof of a lamb; thus the imagery being that of the archbishop, the chief shepherd of the diocese, carrying a lamb on his shoulders, in imitation of Christ the Good Shepherd.
Originally, the pallium was worn only by the pope. The pope now gives it to metropolitan archbishops as a sign of their unity with him.
Every diocese is part of a collection of dioceses called a province. In the United States, the provinces most often, but not always, are designated by state lines. The five dioceses of Illinois —Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield — are a province. Each province has an archdiocese, which is called the Metropolitan See.
A tradition of comfort and caring since 1929
Thus the archbishop of that diocese is the metropolitan archbishop, and he presides over, although has no jurisdiction over, the dioceses of that province. Archbishop Cupich is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Chicago.
The conferral of the pallium on a new archbishop is part of the rite of installation of archbishop in his cathedral church. That is, when a new archbishop is received in his cathedral and he takes possession of the archdiocese, the nuncio, who is the pope’s delegate in the United States, traditionally would confer the pallium as part of the rite.
However, some 32 years ago, St. John Paul II took the investiture of the pallium out of the rite of installation, and instead invested archbishops himself in Rome on June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. Pope Francis decided in January that new archbishops will once again receive the pallium in their own cathedrals, in the midst of their own people. Presumably, the conferral of the pallium will again be part of the rite of installation.
Source: Agnus-Dei Media