Tuesday, February 06, 2007 Happy birthday, Cardinal Vidal
CEBU Archbishop Ricar-do Cardinal Vidal will start his 76th birthday today with a 5 a.m. mass at the grounds of the Archbishop’s Palace.
His term as archbishop of Cebu has been extended for a year already. But archdiocesan media liaison officer Msgr. Achilles Dakay asked the public not to ask Vidal if he is retiring soon.
Vidal submitted his courtesy resignation to Pope Benedict XVI during his 75th birthday last year.
Canon 354 of the Canon Law states that “cardinals who head the departments and other permanent sections of the Roman Curia and of Vatican City, who have completed their seventy-fifth year, are requested to offer their resignation from office to the Roman Pontiff, who will consider all the circumstances and make provision accordingly.”
Birthday wish
But Pope Benedict asked Vidal to stay on as archbishop of Cebu in March last year.
Dakay said the people should not pester the cardinal about his retirement, or else Vidal will doubt if he is still welcome as archbishop of Cebu.
Vidal said he still wishes to stay in Cebu.
“Of course! If the Cebuanos will still accept me, I would want to stay. I’ve been here 25 years now, the most productive years of my life. I am used to this kind of life,” he said during his birthday celebration last year.
Vidal’s wish during his 75th birthday was for vigilante-style killings to end and for the criminals to be put in jail.
While summary executions of alleged criminals have ceased recently, not one individual has been arrested nor penalized for it. (JGA)
