ROME — Four American archbishops have traveled to Rome to receive the pallium from Pope Leo XIV on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, joining newly appointed metropolitan archbishops from around the world in a centuries-old tradition.
The pallium, a 3-inch-wide woolen band with 14-inch strips hanging down the front and back, is a liturgical vestment symbolizing both unity with the pope and service to the people of God. Metropolitan archbishops wear the pallium when celebrating Mass in their ecclesiastical province.
Pope Leo XIV revived the tradition begun by St. John Paul II in 1983 by personally placing the pallium around the shoulders of newly named archbishops. In 2015, Pope Francis had returned the practice to having the local nuncio preside over the imposition of the pallium in the archbishop’s home archdiocese.
On June 29, Pope Leo XIV will preside over Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, bless the pallia and confer them upon the new metropolitan archbishops appointed over the past year.
Here is a look at the four American archbishops receiving the pallium this year.
Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York
Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks, 58, was appointed by Pope Leo XIV to lead 2.5 million Catholics as the new shepherd of the Archdiocese of New York, succeeding Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan. He was installed at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Feb. 6.
Like Pope Leo, Archbishop Hicks was born in Chicago. He ministered there until 2005, when he moved to El Salvador to serve for five years as regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, an organization that cares for orphaned and abandoned children in Central America.
Upon returning to Chicago in 2010, he served as dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary before being named vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich in 2015. He was ordained an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese in September 2018 and went on to serve as bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, beginning in 2020.
More than 150 American pilgrims (95 from New York and 62 from Illinois) are accompanying Archbishop Hicks to Rome for the occasion.
“As I prepare to go to Rome to receive this pallium, I’m doing so with a sense of wonder and awe and humility,” Archbishop Hicks said in a YouTube video posted by The Good Newsroom, the online news outlet of the archdiocese, before his departure. “I am going to receive a collar made of wool from the Holy Father that symbolizes that I, as the archbishop of New York, am united with Pope Leo, with the apostolic succession, with all the popes who have come along the way.”
Archbishop James F. Checchio of New Orleans
Originally from New Jersey, Archbishop James F. Checchio, 60, previously served as rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 2005 to 2016, and as bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey, from 2016 to 2025. He was appointed coadjutor archbishop of New Orleans by Pope Leo XIV in September and installed as archbishop on Feb. 11.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans encompasses a total population of more than 1.26 million people, of whom more than half a million are Catholic, and contains 104 parishes, four missions and two campus ministries.
Since arriving in New Orleans, Checchio has immersed himself in the local culture, visiting parishes and schools and even participating in a float during a Super Bowl parade. He recently led a consecration of the archdiocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“There’s such good faith here, and there’s so much excitement for the faith and the love of family, and a deep loyalty to traditions here,” Archbishop Checchio told OSV News.
Archbishop Checchio arrived in Rome on June 23. In a video recorded at St. Peter’s Basilica the following day, he asked the faithful for their prayers. “Pray for me this week as I am tethered to Pope Leo in a way, receive the yoke, the pallium from him, and pray for our pilgrimage group that the faith might continue to flourish in New Orleans,” he said.
Archbishop James R. Golka of Denver
Archbishop James R. Golka, 59, was installed as metropolitan archbishop of Denver on March 25. Originally from Nebraska and one of 10 children, he served as a Jesuit lay missionary volunteer for the Native American Missions in South Dakota from 1989 to 1990 before entering St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Grand Island, Nebraska, in 1994.
Pope Francis appointed him bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs in April 2021 before his elevation to the Archdiocese of Denver. A group of pilgrims from the archdiocese accompanied Archbishop Golka to Rome.
“We are here because God called us to be here,” Archbishop Golka said in his homily during the opening Mass of the Pallium Pilgrimage in Rome, according to a blog post by the archdiocese. “That means something much different than I just decided to go on my own.”
Archbishop Mark S. Rivituso of Mobile, Alabama
Archbishop Mark S. Rivituso, 64, was installed as archbishop of Mobile in September 2025. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, and one of eight children, he previously served as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Louis from 2017 to 2025.
The Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica will be the first time that the new archbishop has met Pope Leo XIV. The archbishop is joined by 68 guests and pilgrims for the occasion.
“I have never met Pope Leo. It’s exciting for me to meet him. I also remind people that I’m not going just by myself, but bringing all of you with me. If you bring all of us and prayers with you, I’ll bring an extra carry-on bag. I’m bringing those who I serve here to Rome as well and will send all of our love and prayers for him,” he said ahead of the trip to Rome.
Writing ahead of the ceremony, Archbishop Rivituso reflected on the significance of the moment for his flock. “Receiving the pallium placed around my neck will be a blessed reminder that I bear and live the yoke of Christ’s shepherding love for each one of you,” he wrote in a June 12 column published in The Catholic Week, the archdiocesan news outlet.
“For us, it’s communion with the Holy Father and that we are in union with him and we are called to nurture communion in our archdiocese,” he said.
Four Canadian archbishops will also receive the pallium from Pope Leo on June 29: Archbishop Guy Boulanger of Sherbrooke, Quebec; Archbishop Susai Jesu of Keewatin-Le Pas, an archdiocese that spans northern Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba; Archbishop Stephen A. Hero of Edmonton, Alberta; and Archbishop Charles Duval of Grouard-McLennan, Alberta.
Several U.S. cardinals are currently in Rome to take part in a consistory June 26-27, including Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago; Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington; Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey; and Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, archbishop emeritus of Washington.
