Archbishop In Rome For Lower-Profile Papal Event
(CBS) -- Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich is in Rome. On Monday, he'll be part of a traditional -- yet updated -- papal event.
It's called the blessing of the pallium -- a thin, lambswool shawl -- given to archbishops of major metropolitan diocese.
Next week's ceremony will be different, CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports.
With Cardinals Bernardin and George, each was presented with his pallium by Pope John Paul.
This time, Pope Francis will bless the pallium but won't make the formal presentation. That will take place in Chicago, as he encourages people to spend money on the poor at home, rather than parties in Rome.
Tweeted pictures of Archbishop Cupich and U.S. Bishops Conference President Joseph Kurtz visiting Ukraine earlier this week are the only sightings we've had of Cupich since he left Chicago last week.
His only words since then, from Ukraine: "The conflict... is very damaging ... But the young people that I talked to give me hope that the future is in good hands."
Cupich still hasn't met or even spoken with the pope who appointed him. He expects that to happen on Monday, privately.
This past January Pope Francis announced that while the blessing of the pallium will still be at the Vatican, from now on, the formal presentation will take place in the Archbishop's home diocese, so more of his parishioners can take part.
A group of pilgrims has traveled to Rome to celebrate. The archdiocese says the trip was organized at their request, not the archbishop's. For weeks, though, the archdiocese website included details of the pilgrimage headlined "Archbishop Cupich invites you to join the pilgrimage."
