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Sunday, January 19, 2003
Vidal leads 800T devotees in 5-hr. procession
By Linette C. Ramos
CEBU -- Even if Roman Catholic Church officials were dismayed by the use of pyrotechnics and a commotion during Saturday's five-hour foot procession, the number of Sto. Niņo devotees who joined the religious activity overwhelmed them.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Basilica del Sto. Niņo rector Fr. Jerome "Bong" Mesina said there were more people who showed up Saturday compared to last year's procession.
"Look at all of them, usually when we arrive here, very few are here," the cardinal said, apparently amazed at the huge number of people waiting for the Sto. Niņo to arrive at the Pilgrims' Center.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Josephus Angan estimated the crowd at "one million," while Insp. Abraham Ocampo, deputy chief for operations of the Carbon Police Precinct, placed the figure at 800,000.
The record number was linked to economic and political instability and the looming war in the Middle East, as the faithful offered their petitions to the Holy Child.
The procession had to stop periodically as traffic enforcers tried to disperse the thick crowd that gathered in front of the carriage.
When it left the basilica grounds around 2:30 p.m., some 200 blue guards, police interns and student volunteers cordoned off the carriage from the crowd, a security measure undertaken yearly to protect the replica of the original Sto. Niņo image.
The cardinal, now 72, braved the five-hour walk along with five bishops, about 20 priests, nuns and seminarians as the procession made its way through the downtown area in Cebu City.
Healthy Vidal
The annual procession on the day before the feast of the Sto. Niņo is the only public procession the Cebu archbishop joins. "And as long as (I am) healthy enough to walk, I will keep on joining," he said.
While the procession went on, priests at the basilica led the faithful in praying the rosary in some 30 languages and dialects.
Loudspeakers were put up along the streets to allow the devotees to join in the communal prayer.
Confetti, flowers, lighted candles and balloons greeted the image of the Holy Child as it passed by all the streets included in the route, which was longer compared to last year's.
Children dressed in Sto. Niņo clothes waved to the image of the Holy Child when it passed by Borromeo St. while images of the Sto. Niņo were displayed in business establishments.
Employees of some department stores also offered their Sinulog dance.
Last year, the procession took only about three and a half hours. Yesterday, it took five hours to bring the Sto. Niņo through the streets of D. Jakosalem, Magallanes, Borromeo, Sanciangko, Osmeņa Blvd., P. del Rosario, Sikatuna, Mabini and back to the basilica.
The cardinal also noted that because of the streamers that hung from buildings and the thick crowd waiting for the Sto. Niņo along the streets, the procession had to occasionally stop.
Firecrackers
As thousands of devotees waved to the image when it passed by P. del Rosario and Sikatuna Sts., balloons formed into two life-sized rosaries were released into the air.
The cardinal's appeal to do away with pyrotechnics, though, fell on deaf ears, as some people along Sikatuna and other streets greeted the Sto. Niņo with firecrackers.
"The procession began and ended peacefully and orderly, although it makes me sad that just in front of the cathedral, the explosions happened, which I did not like. It disrupted the prayers," Vidal said in an interview.
When the carriage reached Burgos St. near the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, devotees who wanted to go near the Sto. Niņo tried to cross the cordon, which led to a brief commotion.
The people following the image, including priests and politicians, were caught in a stampede as blue guards tried to disperse the crowd.
All the gates of the church grounds were closed to secure the Sto. Niņo when it arrived at the basilica, as hundreds of thousands of devotees who waited for Him at the Pilgrim Center waved and sang.
It was the cardinal himself who brought the image back inside the basilica after it was taken out of its glass case.
Sen. Robert Barbers, Reps. Raul del Mar and Jose "Dodong" Gullas, Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas and Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas president Cerge Remonde also followed the procession yesterday, while Sen. Robert Jaworski and some Cebu City officials preferred to wait on the streets.
As the whole Cebu Province celebrate the feast of the Sto. Niņo today, the cardinal hopes that devotees use the celebration to give thanks for the blessings they received from the Holy Child.
"We hope the people will find more meaning in their coming, in their joining in the celebration, in their stay in Cebu. I hope they will find meaning in their pilgrimage, that they will be able to express their thanksgiving to Sto. Nino for whatever favor they have received from Him," he said.
A pontifical mass officiated by Bishop John Du followed the procession last night, after which devotees at the basilica joined in the traditional one-hour of Sinulog dancing to the beat of the drums. With AIV of Sun.Star Cebu |
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