MANILA: Pope Leo XIV received the wooden pectoral cross of one of the Philippines’ newest bishops, Sean Mejia of the Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk, in Rome on Sept. 10.
The apostolic vicariate shared the moment on Facebook on Sunday, Sept. 20, saying the bishop “stood before the Holy Father…and though the moment was brief, he carried with him into that room all of us.”
“Our bishop did something that will move every heart in Kalinga and Apayao,” it said. “He took his wooden pectoral cross…and placed it into the hands of Pope Leo XIV.”
A pectoral cross, the vicariate explained, is a sacred emblem representing the bishop’s willingness to carry the Cross of Christ in his pastoral mission. It is worn on the chest, close to the heart, signifying the bishop’s “love for christ.”
The pectoral cross that Pope Leo XIV received was the one used by Mejia in his episcopal ordination and canonical installation at the St. William’s Cathedral in Tabuk, Kalinga on June 2.
It was carved from the wood of his own parents’ bed frame, a humble representation of homes and households in the province of Kalinga.
Meanwhile, the color red seen in the wound of Christ in his feet was the bishop’s own blood, pricked from his right ring finger. The Holy Father said “this is beautiful and precious” as he looked at the said cross.
Mejia told Pope Leo XIV: “Your Holiness, I am giving you this cross as a reminder that the Apostolic Vicariate is one with you in the mission of peace. Please pray for us.”
As the apostolic vicariate said, “[a] wood from a humble home in our mountains now rests with the Successor of Peter in Rome.”
“The love of one Kalinga family, carried into the very heart of the Church.”And into that sacred moment, our bishop brought your intentions, your prayers, your struggles and laid them before the Holy Father too,” it said. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
