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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Nourish flock: Vidal to new Vatican envoy
By Linette C. Ramos
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Help counter the myths about the Catholic faith.
That’s one of the challenges Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal yesterday gave a newly ordained Cebuano archbishop and member of the Vatican’s diplomatic corps.
Vidal specifically asked Archbishop Francisco Padilla, the new Apostolic Nuncio to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, to bring the Sacred Scriptures to his people so they would not be easily swayed by myths presented in fictional books and movies.
“At a time when fresh challenges to the faith are emerging, it is the role of the bishop to nourish his flock with water that flows from the bosom of the Church,” he said in his homily during the ordination rites yesterday.
President Arroyo, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Fernando Filoni, Papal Nuncio to Australia Ambrose Battista De Paoli, Cabinet members and local government officials joined hundreds of Cebuanos in celebrating the historical event at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
Bond
Twenty other bishops and some 100 priests attended the ceremony, which Padilla described as both a celebration and thanksgiving for God’s special blessing on him.
Aside from acting as the Vatican’s ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Padilla is also tasked with strengthening the bond of unity between his church and the Universal Church.
Since the public would want to read or watch anything new even if these are myths, Vidal said it is up to Padilla and other bishops to educate their flock and lead them into the renewal of their minds.
“They will shut their ears to the truth and they will turn to myths. They will shut their ears to the Sacred Scripture and they will turn to fiction. They will shut their ears to the Gospels and they will turn to movies,” he said, a thinly veiled reference to author Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” and the movie it inspired.
In an interview after the mass, Vidal said he hasn’t seen the movie because he has more important things to do since he got
back from Rome last week.
The cardinal added that he is also not interested to watch the movie, the screening of which was a topic of several debates here and abroad.
Tasks
After hearing from the cardinal the tasks that lie ahead, Padilla admits his responsibilities in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are great, especially since these are two countries that he does not know well.
“But my faith is strong. Knowing my limitations, I have complete trust in the Lord, in our own Sto. Niño de Cebu, that He will give me strength to be able to confront the challenges that await me in my new posting. This faith and trust keep my spirits high,” he said after his ordination.
Padilla also thanked President Arroyo for attending his ordination, “and for bringing with her the faith of the whole Filipino
people to join me in this happy and blessed event.”
In his homily, Cardinal Vidal asked the new archbishop to bring Christ to His flock as He was described in the Bible and not
as the Christ portrayed in novels and movies, and to teach His flock to love Him.
The cardinal stressed, though, that the church will not suppress the faithful’s mind from independent thinking.
Instead, he challenged them to study their faith and the Scriptures and compare these with writings that are false.
“Do not allow yourself to be confused. The church has always been guided by the Holy Spirit, and when in the early years of Christianity, it chose certain books as inspired and rejected others as false and deceiving, it is only because the church is in possession of the truth, and it knows what conforms to this truth and what does not,” he said.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 24, 2006 issue)
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