Ordinarily the Pope imposes the pallium on all new metropolitan archbishops on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.
By making an exception for Cardinal Scola, the Pontiff seemed to be underlining the importance of his appointment to the Milan see, which is the largest archdiocese in Europe.
Cardinal Scola received the pallium--the woolen liturgical vestment symbolic of the authority of a metropolitan archbishop--on the 20th anniversary of his ordination as a bishop.