"I Love Sydney": Pallium Investiture Mass in Sydney

At what may well have been the first orchestral Mass at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney for over half a decade, the Archbishop of Sydney was "invested" with his pallium on the Feast of St James the Greater, a month after he received it from Pope Francis at St Peter's Basilica on the feast of Saints Peter & Paul. The "investor" was the new Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana.

For the ordinary, Mozart's Missa Solemnis in C major K.337, a chamber orchestra was employed, and in a marked departure from the Cathedral norm a latter-day lutenist sang and self-accompanied the responsorial Psalm.

It was great to see the cathedral packed with the faithful joining together to witness the investiture and pray for their Archbishop. Provided these new "Pallium Investiture" Masses, as they occur from time to time across the world, are not 'ticketed' (which I state again is a repugnant practice), then this new regime implemented by Pope Francis may indeed "enable more parishioners in the local dioceses to participate in an important moment in the life and history of their diocese and Province". Other Archdioceses would do well to model their "Pallium Investiture" Masses on today's Mass in Sydney.