Ricardo Cardinal Vidal: 1931-2017
With the social media networks so active these days, by now everyone already knows that Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has passed on to his great reward in heaven and finally to see God face to face. When his eminence Julio Cardinal Rosales died, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal replaced him as Archbishop of Cebu on August 24, 1982 and served the Cebu Archdiocese for at least 30 years before his retirement in 2011. He held so many titles when he was Archbishop of Cebu, which I'm sure you will be able to read in all our newspapers today.
I do have my unforgettable moments with Cardinal Vidal when a friend of mine, who already left the Catholic Church, questioned me why we venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary. He demanded to know if our Mama Mary was omnipresent? Now this was in the mid-80s and I was not yet into religion and spirituality and I wasn't even in journalism. So I couldn't give him a proper answer. Since I already met with Cardinal Vidal, I said to myself that I would go to the Archbishop's Palace and ask him this question. But since it was already early evening and I had to meet a friend at the Mactan International Airport, I decided to visit the Cardinal in the following day.
But as I got inside the Mactan Airport Terminal building, to my total surprise, Cardinal Vidal was there sitting on the bench also waiting for the same flight that I was also waiting. So then I told him of my encounter with my separated friend and Cardinal Vidal told me that we only bestow omnipresence to God and not the Blessed Virgin Mary. With that question answered, I eagerly sought to see my friend. But somehow I could no longer find him. But this encounter led me to realize how poorly educated I was when it came to the Catholic faith and I'm sure that many more Catholics were in the same boat as I was.
This led me to start my self-study about Catholicism and whenever I would meet with the Cardinal, I would have questions that I reserved just for him. So in a way, Cardinal Vidal exhorted this ignorant Catholic and encouraged me to read more about our Catholic faith. Ten years passed when things became serious and I got to read the books written by Scott Hahn and the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) became one of my favorite TV channels. But more importantly, with my newfound knowledge of the Catholic faith, we go out of our way to spread the Good News.
Because of Cardinal Vidal who encouraged me like a mentor, as a journalist, I was emboldened to write articles about the Catholic Church, especially her major advocacies especially about family and life issues. This is why even now I am still staunchly against abortion and the use of artificial conception method as a means to birth control. No less than Cardinal Vidal bestowed me together with Rep. Raul del Mar the recognition of the Catholic Church for our work in enlightening our fellow Catholics about our faith.
My last encounters with Cardinal Vidal was during the days when Fr. Romeo "Archie" Intengan (who died last week in Manila) came to Cebu and helped form the National Transformation Council (NTC) which was formed at the Sacred Heart School (now called Ateneo de Cebu) together Archbishop Emeritus of Davao Fernando Capalla and Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa, Batangas. I figured that with the presence of these bishops, this organization would be a safe one for me to join.
One of the things that the NTC sought was for political reforms in the country. Alas, Fr. Intengan founded the Philippine Democratic Socialist Party (PDSP) died without seeing those reforms put in place for the Philippines. Mind you, this was the first time I'm mentioning the role of Cardinal Vidal in the creation of the NTC.
Cardinal Vidal is the only Cardinal that most Cebuanos have known. As of press time, we still do not know where his wake would be held. But all I can say is, Cebu has been blessed to have Cardinal Vidal as our Archbishop for many decades. We will certainly miss him. But knowing him as a man of God, while we exhort our readers to please pray for the repose of his soul, I would like to say that in Cardinal Vidal, we have another intercessor in heaven who can pray for us here on earth.