Thanks to an official declaration from President Rodrigo Duterte, practically all roads today lead to the procession and burial of the beloved Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal for the Catholic faithful who will number in the thousands.
The declaration will make it easier for the Cebu City government to handle traffic and crowd control of the masses who will attend the funeral procession and wave a final goodbye to the cardinal as he is laid to his final resting place today.
Ever since word got out of Vidal’s demise, which, to be honest, was only a matter of time owing to his advanced age and deteriorating health, the tributes have not stopped coming, and one expects it to go on for some time for as long as people keep his memory and legacy alive.
Even without Rep. Raul del Mar of Cebu City’s North District calling on Catholic leaders to lobby for Vidal’s sainthood, it cannot be denied nor debated that he has carved a place not only in Cebu but in the country’s history as well.
Personal accounts and stories told of how he was instrumental in stopping one of the key fronts in the 1989 coup attempt against the first Aquino administration by persuading one of the key coup figures to surrender to the government.
And how even those considered as being the most corrupt and despised leaders of the country — like the late president Ferdinand Marcos — can expect to be administered the last rites from Vidal shows how the cardinal lived up to God’s exhortation to love one’s enemies.
That understanding and openness extends to religions outside of Catholicism though it can be said that Vidal had drawn the line when it came to challenging church doctrines and beliefs.
Like all church leaders, Vidal assumed a hard-line stance when it came to the then Reproductive Health Bill, and when told about a provision that would supposedly prosecute those who stop or discourage the use of contraceptives and other methods, he declared unequivocally that he was willing to go to jail to stop its implementation.
Though a lot would disagree with him and the church’s position on the issue, his declaration showed that he didn’t lack courage nor conviction despite his failing health and the accusations against him of being “soft” and conciliatory on some political leaders.
But through all his failings, of which there are few as recorded and attested to by those close to him and those who’ve known him either personally and indirectly, Vidal still shone through and endeared himself to the Cebu-based Catholic faithful even to those who disagreed with him.
Amid the overflowing tributes and the calls for his sainthood, Vidal had lived up and adhered to his divine mandate of shepherding God’s flock even when pressed to help avert and resolve secular and political turmoil that continue to plague this country. Time for him to finally rest from his labors.
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