Another cardinal after Vidal

WITH the passing away of

Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, the number of cardinals in the Philippines has been reduced to three, with one already retired and a non-voter in the college of cardinals.

The church has 219 cardinals, as of this month. Pope Francis appointed 17 cardinals in November 2016 and five last June, the choices reflecting his wish to have developing countries and obscure regions represented in the college.

Apparently, the number of Catholics the would-be cardinal leads carries less weight now than before. The archdiocese of Cebu, with 4.29 million parishioners and 612 priests (as of 2016), always had a cardinal; the past two spiritual leaders, Ricardo Vidal and Julio Rosales, were cardinals. With Vidal’s death at 86 last Oct. 18, Catholics used to having a cardinal in their midst must hope for Archbishop Jose Palma to get the title soon. Palma succeeded Vidal on Oct. 15, 2010 and was installed last Jan. 13, 2011.

He served

In Pope Francis’s “marching order” to the new cardinals, he told them not to act like princes but to serve God and His people. Known in the past as “princes of the church,” for their finery in clothes and ornate residences, the cardinals can project, if they want to, the image of royalty. with its opulence and pageant r y.

Cardinal Vidal, to be sure, did not act like a prince. He did his duties and served his flock simply and plainly. Cebuanos were witness to his fidelity to the precept the pope drilled on the five new cardinals: “Serve, you are not princes.”

Under the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the cardinal shall be “outstanding in doctrine, morals, piety and prudence in action.” That guides the pope in electing the appointee. That must govern the cardinal too in what he says and does once he joins the college.

Trust, hope

Not all the pope’s picks may be right. In his last appointments, for example, one bishop from a developing country was exposed by European media to have illicit offshore bank deposits. The appointee didn’t refuse the position despite the scandal nor did the pope back out. Pope Francis must have enormous capacity for trust or hope, aside from his power to fire a sitting cardinal.

Members of the college, aside from their duties as head of a diocese or archdiocese in their respective areas, advise the pope and elect his successor. They are priests but they are also cardinals.