The Pallium

Qoute from Letter 5,11 to John, bishop of Ravenna. October 594. I find that your Fraternity is extremely distressed by the fact that you are forbidden from wearing the pallium in litanies, due to our cirticism of your reason. But by means of a most excellent patrician and a most eminent prefect, and through other noblemen of your city, you insolently seek to have this granted to you. But from careful inquiries, we have found out from Adeodatus, who was once deacon of your fraternity, that is was never costumary for your predecessors to use the palium in litanies, except in the solemn processions for Saint John the Baptist, Saint Peter the apostle and Saint Apollinaris the martyr. In fact we should not have believed him at all, because many of our delegates have quite often been in the city of your Fraternity, and they claim that they have never seen anything like that. And in this matter, one should believe many witnesses rather that just one who attests something on behalf of his own church. Cited from: The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. John R.C. Martyn (Toronto: PIMS, 2004), II: 330.