Pope is the Unity of the Universal Church

Yesterday, the Pope reflected in his general audience in the Vatican on the meaning of the pallium, which was received during Mass by 44 new bishops.

The pallium, a liturgical insignia that is a wool stole worn around the neck, is meant to be a "testimony of communion with the Bishop of Rome", according to the Pope.

"It expresses the fundamental principle of communion, which gives form to ecclesial life in every one of its aspects," the Pope said.

It "reminds one that this communion is organic and hierarchical; it manifests that the Church, to be one, is in need of the peculiar service of the Church of Rome and of its Bishop, head of the College of Bishops," he explained.

Further, the pallium represents the "catholicity", or universality, of the Catholic Church.