A historic send-off for Cardinal Vidal

It was a tearful send-off for our beloved archbishop emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal. Anticipating road closures and parking difficulty, I parked my car in Colon St. and walked to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. It was a hot day, which is not good for a kidney patient like me, but Cardinal Vidal was a part of Cebu and a part of my spirituality so it was worth the sweat from walking on a hot day to the cathedral for this historic event. Please don’t ask me how many people joined his funeral, all I know is that I was surrounded by thousands of mourners who joined the funeral cortege.

I first entered the place where Cardinal Vidal would be buried, which is quite a small area where only a few people could fit. Seeing that my cameraman for MyTV was already there, I proceeded towards the cathedral where Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle was already having his eulogy. I could not go deeper because the Cathedral was fully packed to the brim.

After the funeral services were over the remains of Cardinal Vidal were brought out of the cathedral, but first all the priests and bishops attending the ceremony had to march out of the church. From my viewpoint, it looked like all the priests and the religious in the Cebu Archdiocese were in the Cathedral yesterday.

Then Knights of Columbus in their full colorful regalia lined in the pews and raised their swords in salute to the prince of the Church. I took pictures and downloaded them on my Facebook. For me, two photos were significant, the moment the carroza left the cathedral and when it passed by the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño.

I joined the funeral procession despite the heat of the morning sun. But I left the entourage when the carroza bearing the casket of Cardinal Vidal entered the back of the cathedral. It was then that I realized that there was a huge throng of people walking behind the carroza. Knowing how limited the space was where Cardinal Vidal would be buried; I walked back to Colon St. to get my car and went home.

It was a historic day because Cebu has not seen a funeral for a Cardinal since Julio Cardinal Rosales died and was buried way back in 1983. During the funeral I greeted his Excellency Archbishop Jose Palma and we can only hope and pray that he would someday get his red miter.