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Friday, April 08, 2005
Arroyo arrives at the Vatican
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will lead the Filipino community in a special mass in the Vatican for the repose of the soul of Pope John Paul II, who will be buried Friday afternoon.
Arroyo arrived Thursday morning (1:30 p.m. in Manila) at the Fumicino Airport in Rome. The official delegation includes First Daughter Evangelina Lourdes "Luli" Arroyo, Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See Leonida Vera, Batangas Representative Hermilando Mandanas, Social Security System (SSS) chairman Thelmo Cunanan and Georgina de Venecia, wife of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
The President was welcomed by the Italian Parliament speaker who hosted a special lunch for Arroyo.
A special mass organized by the Filipino community in Rome at 7 p.m. Thursday (1 a.m. Friday in Manila) would also be attended by Arroyo.
The President flew to Rome to pay her last respects to the Pope who visited Manila twice in his 26 years as leader of 1.1 billion Roman Catholics worldwide.
She said she brings with her the Filipino people's love and prayers for the charismatic Pope who had intimately touched their lives. The Pope visited the Philippines in 1981 and 1995.
Arroyo would join other world leaders in attending the Pope's interment Friday afternoon in Rome before returning to Manila at 10 a.m. Saturday.
In Manila, some media groups complained of alleged favoritism shown by Malacañang.
Reports said Malacañang allowed representatives of media network ABS-CBN to join the President's party to the Vatican despite earlier pronouncements that no media group has been invited to join the trip.
A representative of rival GMA 7 was only invited supposedly after the network protested. No representatives from the print media, radio and government-media groups were included in the delegation.
Retired Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, meanwhile, is still hoping to attend this month's conclave in Rome to pick the next pope despite his poor health, his secretary said Thursday.
Fr. Jun Sescon, personal secretary of Cardinal Sin, said the former Manila archbishop is still hoping to participate in the conclave since this is one of the important duties of cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church.
"He had already begun telling friends and visitors that he would be leaving shortly to attend the funeral and the conclave," he said.
Cardinal Sin who turned 76 last August is still eligible to vote for the next pope during the conclave that would be held on April 18, 2005.
However, his doctors would not let Sin leave for the Vatican because of his frail health. And on Wednesday, the Philippine Embassy to the Holy See announced that Sin--one of only three cardinal electors who voted in the 1978 conclave to elect Pope John Paul II--would not be able to travel because he is too ill.
Sin is afflicted with kidney problems and diabetes and has considerably reduced his public appearance in recent years.
He has been undergoing dialysis three to four times a week since 1998. He suffered a mild stroke in 2003 and was hospitalized in October after a sudden drop in blood pressure.
Sescon said when Cardinal Sin heard about the pope's death, he started preparing for a trip to Vatican.
Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said the cardinals are required to be in Italy to choose Pope John Paul II's successor but they don't really have to be in the Sistine Chapel.
"You know, in the constitution, the policy on the election of the pope is that they have certain measures for sick cardinals who are there and they can vote if they are in Rome. But they have to be in Italy, inside the Vatican and if they cannot go to the Sistine Chapel, they can vote from their rooms there but they will be secluded from the public," said Capalla.
Capalla added that although Cardinal Sin is already frail, they are hopeful that he would be able to participate in the conclave since there are only three Filipino cardinals who are members of the College of Cardinals, namely, Sin, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Cardinal Jose Tomas Sanchez.
It is the College of Cardinals that picks the pope. The meeting to elect a new pope is called a conclave.
Only Cardinals Sin and Vidal could vote and be voted for the papacy while Sanchez is already ineligible because he is already 80 years old. (JMR/MSN)
(April 8, 2005 issue)
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Pope's coffin carried to Basilica for burial