When a collar is just a collar

Another sign of how clueless the secular media is about Catholicism: The website of a Houston TV channel is highlighting "an honor from Pope Benedict that only a few get" for their archbishop. Guess what it is:

A pallium!!! Whoo-hoo! Few, eh? You mean, like, every single archbishop in the whole entire world? For those of you who don't know, a pallium (and the website got this right), is "a circular [kind of] band of white wool that is worn over the shoulders and symbolizes the archbishop's authority and unity with the pope." The authority part is a bit of an exaggeration, since an archbishop is really just a bishop with better piping on his cassock.

At any rate, the pallium is basically another piece of medieval fashion, highlighting yet again the endless ecclesial drag clerics spend the people of God's money on. Recall, after all, that the archbishop travelled to Rome for the "pallium Mass" with a retinue from Houston. How Middle Ages!

Yes, yes, I know: That's our "tradition." No, really, it's not. It's just a holdover from a medieval church, along with the absolute papal monarchy, the system of imperial legates ("nuncios"), and the completely non-representative divine-right governmental structure.

But I guess Jesus wants it this way. He said so at the Last Supper.