Cardinal Vidal gone at 86
The country’s oldest surviving Prince of the Church at 86, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal passed away at 7:28 a.m. yesterday at the intensive care unit of the Perpetual Succour Hospital in Cebu City due to “septic shock.”
“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of Cardinal Vidal. He has returned to the Father’s home at 7:28 a.m. today. I ask the people to pray for his eternal repose,” said Msgr. Joseph Tan, the spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
Cardinal Vidal’s passing leaves the Philippines with only three living cardinals: Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle who is 60, Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo who is 78, and Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales who is 85.
Vidal, who served as archbishop of Cebu for 29 years before he retired in 2010, was rushed by his nurse from his retirement house in Sto. Niño Village in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City, to the Perpetual Succour Hospital past 2 a.m. last October 11, due to fever and shortness of breath.
His successor Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma gave Vidal the Sacrament of Extreme Unction on the same day shortly after the 86-year-old cardinal went unconscious. The sacrament is performed on a seriously ill person for spiritual and physical strength.
True servant-leader “Cardinal Vidal cannot die. He who has always shared in the dying and rising of the Lord daily in his priestly life cannot die. He now joins the immortal ones who served the Lord faithfully here on earth," Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said.
Villegas said Vidal's wisdom, humility, love for priests and devotion to the Virgin Mary must continue to live on in us whom he has left behind.
"Rest well, Eminence. Pray for us in the Father's House," he said.
Cardinal Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato described the late cardinal as a true servant leader whose character is outstanding.
"For me his legacy is his own outstanding character. Some of these are: Humility, low profile style; Simplicity and Approachability; Ability to listen even to opposing views; Prudence in political issues; Courage in presenting and defending the CBCP position leading to the 1986 People Power; Charity for those considered as 'enemies'," he said.
"Hence a true servant-leader rather than a 'prince'," added Quevedo.
Vidal tendered his resignation to the Holy Father in 2006 when he turned 75 years old.
Too kind Msgr. Tan said church leaders were very hopeful Tuesday that Vidal would pull through despite the doctor’s bulletin describing him as “critically stable.”
“Those who are left behind would still feel the sadness but I take that as the compliment that the person who has passed away has been missed and loved so much,” Tan added.
“I suppose there was already a risk that his heart would give up due to his age and also because of infections. The doctor’s last update was that he was in stable condition but maybe, the time has really come that he returned to the Father’s home,” Tan said explaining the cardinal’s death. The other factor that may have triggered Vidal's death were the medications he had been taking for many years, Tan added.
Vidal’s brother, Juanito rushed to his side from Manila to be at his bedside.
“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you until you get out of the hospital,” Juanito told the Cardinal.
Juanito recalled that when they were young, he had to always protect Vidal from people who wanted to hurt him since the late cardinal was too kind to fight.
Graceful exit
Vidal’s secretary, Fr. Joseph de Aquino described his passing as “a graceful exit.”
“It’s like there’s a punctuation, a period to his life, because there’s nothing more to offer. It’s a graceful exit to me… It might have been so painful but being with him for several years, I think the time has come,” said De Aquino.
Being the Cardinal’s secretary for seven years, de Aquino looks to Vidal as his second father.
“I’ve been saying mass to him the past days, but there were really no signs… He would just say ‘thank you.’ And I think that reflects the kind of person that he is. He is really thankful, humble and most of all, kind. He always gives everything that he has,” de Aquino told the Manila Bulletin.
Wake Wednesday afternoon, the Cardinal’s body was taken to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral for the first of the masses which was officiated by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma and for public viewing.
“Right now, nothing definite… Other details to follow. We will still be finalizing the plans,” Tan said.
In a statement, Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said, “The Palace condoles with the Cebu faithful on the demise of Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal this morning.” “President Rodrigo Duterte and Cardinal Vidal had a friendly, cordial relationship. The good cardinal paid a courtesy call on Malacañang shortly after PRRD assumed office and assured the Chief Executive of his fervent prayers for him and his administration.”
Former Vice President Jejomar Binay in a statement said, “I join the nation and the Catholic faithful in mourning the death of His Eminence, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu. We recall and celebrate his spiritual leadership and service to the Church and to the nation, and his untiring commitment to the ways of peace, social upliftment and unity. He will always be in our hearts. (With reports from Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos, Leslie Ann G. Aquino, and Anna Liza V. Alavaren)