Batanes Bishop Emeritus Camilo Gregorio plays a hymn using the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral’s pipe organ — his tribute to the late cardinal, who was laid to rest on Thursday.
CDN PHOTO/LITO Tecson
Bishop Gregorio plays hymn using Cathedral’s pipe organ; CYO performs for him too
Sweet music of goodbye from the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral’s pipe organ reverberated inside the church, a tribute from a fellow bishop and from a youth orchestra, before the late cardinal was finally laid to rest on Thursday morning.
Minutes before the funeral rites, Batanes Bishop Emeritus Camilo Gregorio played a hymn using the Cathedral’s pipe organ to bid farewell to his close friend Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
Gregorio served as auxiliary bishop of Cebu in 1987 before he was reassigned to become the bishop of Bacolod in 1989.
Gregorio was also one of the prelates who organized the Movement for the Our Lady of the Mediatrix in 2015 with Cardinal Vidal.
The Cathedral’s pipe organ has not been used for over four years after it was damaged when the magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit Central Visayas on October 15, 2013.
The pipe was acquired by the Cathedral in 1996, 14 years after Cardinal Vidal was installed as archbishop of Cebu.
Young musicians from the Classic Youth Orchestra (CYO) also paid tribute to the cardinal through classical music.
“It is a privilege for CYO to be able to perform and bid him goodbye through music,” said CYO music director Reynaldo Abellana, recalling how much of a music lover the late cardinal was.
“He has touched several lives and just like the music that we played, his memories will be cherished and will remain in the hearts of the people,” Abellana added.