VIDAL
ARCHBISHOP PALMA’S CALL
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma has called on the faithful to pray for the speedy recovery of his predecessor, Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who remains at the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private hospital in Cebu City.
“They continue to monitor him kay mao kini ang pneumonia ug (cardiac) arrest. Importante nga mag-ampo kita nga malugwayan pa (ang iyang kinabuhi),” Palma said in an interview after he presided over a Mass at the Basilica del Sto. Niño’s outdoor Pilgrim Center to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima on Friday evening.
(The doctors continue to monitor him because this is what pneumonia and cardiac arrest require. It is important that we pray that his life will be extended.)
“Di ta sigurado pa kon unsa gyud ang iyang kahimtang kay ingon nila daghan pa man silag mga tests. (We’re not sure of what really his situation is because his doctors said there are still a lot of tests that will be undertaken),” he added.
Palma gave Vidal the Sacrament of Extreme Unction shortly after the 86-year-old cardinal went unconscious at the Perpetual Succour Hospital in Cebu City last Wednesday afternoon.
The sacrament is performed on a seriously ill person for spiritual and physical strength.
Vidal, the country’s most senior cardinal, was unconscious throughout Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
He, however, showed positive signs on Friday morning when he began to open his eyes.
“Makamata og mag-react siya kung may voice nga familiar sa iya. Pero dili pa siya makaistorya. (He opens his eyes or reacts when he hears a voice that is familiar to him. But he still could not talk),” said Palma, who again visited Vidal at the hospital on Friday afternoon.
Bacterial infections
Dr. Rene Bullecer, one of Vidal’s friends and doctors, said the cardinal badly needs prayers.
“He is still in critical condition due to bacterial infections side-by-side with poor kidney functions. Even how good the medications afforded to the patient are, if the kidneys are malfunctioning, everything is compromised,” he said in a text message to Cebu Daily News on Saturday.
“Thus, the good cardinal needs our prayers and divine intervention. He needs a miracle so he can recover from these two major medical problems,” he added.
Bullecer clarified that he is not among Vidal’s attending physicians, but he gives medical updates about the cardinal’s condition based on the information relayed by the latter’s doctors and from his personal observations.
“The cardinal is having a bacteremia, the main health problem he is battling now. He is partly conscious. He opens his eyes from time to time,” he said.
Rushed to hospital
Vidal, who served as archbishop of Cebu for 29 years before he retired in 2011, was rushed by his nurse from his retirement house in Sto. Niño Village in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City, to the Perpetual Succour Hospital past 2 a.m. last Wednesday, October 11, due to fever and shortness of breath.
In the afternoon of Wednesday, Vidal suddenly collapsed and was in a semi-coma state until Friday morning.
Since 2014, Vidal has been going in and out of the hospital due to pneumonia.
In 2004, Vidal underwent a coronary angiogram procedure, an examination of the heart and blood vessels, and had a pacemaker installed to monitor his heart beat.
On Sept. 23, 2013, Vidal was rushed to the hospital after a mild stroke.
The native of Mogpog in Marinduque chose to spend his retirement years in Cebu where he continues to preside over Masses and attend special events in the country’s biggest archdiocese.