CEBU CITY — Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal will be laid to rest on October 26 at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral crypt.
This was announced Thursday by Cebu Archdiocese media liaison officer Msgr. Joseph Tan, who said the cardinal would be buried right after a novena for the dead is completed.
The funeral service will start at 9 a.m. and Vidal will be interred in a very special burial chamber at the back of the Cathedral where all the bishops of Cebu were laid to rest out of reverence for their office as spiritual leaders in the Diocese.
Prelates buried at the Cathedral crypt include Archbishop Julio Cardinal Rosales, Archbishop Manuel Salvador, and Bishop Sincero Lucero of Calbayog. The special burial chamber was constructed during the time of Cardinal Rosales as archbishop of Cebu.
On Saturday, Vidal’s wake will be temporarily transferred to the St. Pedro Calungsod Shrine at the Archbishop’s Palace. This is to coincide with the 5th anniversary of Calungsod’s sainthood. Calungsod became a saint through the efforts of Cardinal Vidal.
The wake will be held at the Calungsod Shrine for just one day and it will be moved to another venue which will be announced later, according to Msgr. Tan.
Meanwhile, Tan, on behalf of the Archdiocese of Cebu, wished to extend his sincerest gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for his instantaneous message of sadness and condolence.
“I wish to thank the President for his message. Imagine, within hours after we announced the death of the cardinal, President Duterte issued a well-said expression of condolence, highlighting his cordial relationship with the cardinal,” Tan said.
Talks were circulated that Duterte will be coming to Cebu to pay his last respects to the cardinal, but Tan said they have not received any notice from Malacañang yet regarding the matter.
Tan said past presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Simeon Benigno Aquino III have expressed their sympathies as well but did not serve notice of their coming.
Other bishops, including Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president Soc Villegas, and some of Vidal’s friends, relatives, and extended families are expected to arrive anytime this week.
Villegas was expected to arrive later Thursday and celebrate mass at 8 p.m. at the Cathedral. (Luel Galarpe with USJR intern Levirose Caballero/PNA)
