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Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Malilong: Sharing of grief
By Frank Malilong
The Other Side
RICARDO Cardinal Vidal is leaving today for the Vatican for the funeral of Pope John Paul II and the conclave that will elect his successor. A source at the cardinal’s residence said the Cebu prelate will be taking Thai Airways at noon, accompanied by his secretary, Fr. Dennis Villarojo.
The cardinal was supposed to leave for Rome on May 3 but the pope’s death altered his plans. He is one of the present 117 princes of the church under the age of 80 who, under church laws, are mandated to meet under lock and key not earlier than 14 days but not later than 20 days from the pope’s death to choose a successor.
As has been our practice the last three or four Sundays, my family and I went to hear the 7 a.m. mass at the archbishop’s chapel the other day and were surprised to see the cardinal, instead of Fr. Dennis or Fr. Teng Ancajas presiding. There were at least five priests, aside from the cardinal and Bishop Camilo Gregorio of Basco, Batanes, in attendance and almost all of them looked as if they haven’t had any sleep the night before.
“At about 4:30 this morning, I received a telephone call,” the cardinal began his homily. “The pope is dead.”
He went on to explain to the congregation, mostly employees at the cardinal’s residence and their families that the church would go on, quoting another prelate who earlier said in an interview that popes and cardinals go but the church will stay. He spoke in a calm and clear voice.
It was when he spoke about John Paul II’s affinity with the Filipinos that the cardinal showed some emotion. He recalled that every time they meet, the pope would not call him by name. “Czebu, come Czebu,” the pope would ask him, the cardinal recalled, his voice breaking. He paused longer than usual, staring blankly as he fought to regain control.
The atmosphere was somber, broken only by the arrival of a woman who had an ID on her neck, identifying her as a radio reporter. She came in just as the homily was about to end, strutting to the front and thrusting her cellphone towards Vidal’s direction, apparently trying to “feed” the cardinal’s sharing to her station.
She stayed until the end of the mass. All the while, her phone kept ringing, drawing icy stares from priests, nuns and churchgoers. After the mass, I heard two male employees telling each other, “Way batasan to nga media.”
I couldn’t fault them. How else can you describe someone who intrudes into the privacy of your grief?
(April 5, 2005 issue)
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