Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas and 37 other new archbishops from several Catholic nations across the globe will receive their pallium (a vestment worn by the Pope and conferred by him on archbishops and sometimes on bishops) in a concelebrated mass to be presided by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in Rome, Italy Tuesday, June 29, on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

The Pontifical mass will be held at 9:30 a.m. (3:30 p.m. Manila time) during which the Pontiff will impose the pallium on each of the Catholic Church’s new archbishops that include Archbishop Villegas.

The country’s youngest archbishop at 49 years old, Archbishop Villegas was ordained priest in 1985 at the age of 25. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Manila in 2001 and later, appointed bishop of Balanga (Bataan) in 2004. Last year, he succeeded Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.

The oldest archbishop who will receive a pallium in Tuesday’s rites at the Vatican is 72-year-old Vietnamese Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of the Archdiocese of Hanoi.