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Saturday, April 23, 2005
Benedict ‘grateful’ for Pinoy prayers
POPE Benedict XVI thanked the Filipino people for their prayers as he sent his greetings to the Philippines, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said.
“Please tell the Filipino people my greetings to them. Tell them I am grateful for their prayers, to continue prayers with me and with the church,” Vidal said, quoting the new pope.
Cardinal Vidal said the possibility that the new pope will visit the Philippines is great. The 78-year-old pontiff is still strong, healthy and able to lead the Roman Catholic Church, he added.
Vidal told ABS-CBN’s Korina Sanchez that he met Pope Benedict XVI after the conclave of cardinals elected the German cardinal as the new pontiff last Tuesday.
Vidal is the only cardinal from the Philippines who took part in the election, as former Manila archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin was not allowed to travel because of his poor health.
“Some people see him as too strict but once you get to know him personally, you will find he is soft-spoken and he listens intently to what you say,” the cardinal told Sanchez in an interview in Rome.
Open-air
Vidal celebrated a thanksgiving mass for the Filipino community in Rome on Thursday. He will remain in the Vatican for the formal installation of Benedict XVI this Sunday.
The pope held his first working meeting with the College of Cardinals yesterday, as Vatican and Rome authorities began gearing up for another influx of dignitaries and the faithful for his inauguration.
Sunday’s rites are expected to draw half a million faithful.
Italian civil protection officials are estimating that about 100,000 people from Benedict’s native Germany will flock to Rome for the ceremony, and Italy was importing German-speaking volunteers from Italy’s German-speaking north to help them.
Italians are also expected to converge on the Eternal City, taking advantage of a long weekend.
Choosing an open-air installation over an indoors ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica shows Benedict favors the populist touch of recent popes who have made the same choice. (AP)
(April 23, 2005 issue)
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