Philippines mourns Cardinal Vidal, who leaves a legacy of service

Oct 26, 2017

CEBU: Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, who was Archbishop of Cebu from 1982 to 2010 and a leading Catholic figure in the fall of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, died Wednesday at the age of 86. Pope Francis praised the cardinal’s “untiring and devoted service to the Church” and his “constant advocacy of dialogue and peace for all the people in the Philippines.”

“I commend his soul to the infinite love and mercy of our heavenly Father,” he said in an Oct 18 telegram, voicing condolences to Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu and the clergy, religious, and laity of the archdiocese.

In the early 1980s, Vidal became vice-president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. He served as the conference’s president from 1985 to 1987. With Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila, he took a lead role in what has become known as the People’s Power Revolution. He issued a famous letter denouncing the results of the country’s February 1986 snap elections that gave a slim victory to longtime ruler President Ferdinand Marcos, over his challenger Corazon Aquino.

During another period of political tension in 2001, Cardinal Vidal urged then-president Joseph Estrada to resign amid allegations of corruption. --CNA