VIPs, plain folk mourn Cardinal Sin’s death
Jun 25, 2005
Mourners in the thousands yesterday paid their respects to the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, the moving force of the EDSA I and II people power uprisings.
Inquirer News Service, June 23, 2005) Busloads of students from Catholic schools, government workers and ordinary folk arrived in droves at the Manila Cathedral, where the body of the former archbishop of Manila lay in an open casket a day after he died at 76 from complications due to kidney problems and diabetes.
"Cardinal Sin is a monumental figure. He is an inspiration," said Renalyn Bay, a teacher who arrived with high school students from the Catholic-run Lourdes School. "His death, though it makes Filipinos sad, can produce greater blessing because of his example."
On Tuesday night, intermittent rain contributed to the somber mood as VIPs and ordinary people came to mourn.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrived with her younger son Diosdado at around 10:15 p.m. and immediately joined the queue to view the cardinal's remains.
She waited in line for her turn, accompanied by Vice President Noli de Castro who arrived about 15 minutes earlier, before taking a seat at the front pew.
She stayed seated for about 30 minutes, talking with Sin's relatives and officials of the Manila archdiocese.
Bataan Bishop Socrates Villagas, a former auxiliary bishop of Manila and a protégé of Sin's, greeted the two top officials.
Before leaving, the black-clad President again fell in line to view Sin's remains.
Neither she nor De Castro signed the condolence book or issued a statement.
Earlier, former President Fidel Ramos arrived to express his family's condolences.
Ramos said in a chance interview that Sin was "irreplaceable" and a "unique Filipino."
Applause
"May his legacy remain with us Filipinos for all time," Ramos said.
At the 7 p.m. Mass on Tuesday, the main celebrant, Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel in Cotabato, exhorted the assembly to give thanks for Sin's three-decade service as Manila archbishop.
The assembly responded with applause that lasted for about a minute.
It was after the Mass that people from all walks of life, including street vendors, socialites, nuns, priests and seminarians, even tourists, began arriving.
Among the mourners was Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption legal counsel Pete Principe, known among anticrime crusaders as "Attorney Bitay" for securing death sentences for a number of people charged with heinous crimes.
Asked about his pro-death penalty stand vis-à-vis Sin and the Catholic Church's pro-life advocacy, Principe said: "I came to express our gratitude to him and to honor his great legacy as the major instrument of the restoration of democracy in the country."
Principe also said he and other residents of Bulacan province were among those who heeded Sin's radio message in February 1986 for the faithful to support what came to be known as EDSA I.
Princely burial
Sin is to be buried on Tuesday at the Manila Cathedral crypt, where other archbishops, including his immediate predecessor, Rufino Cardinal Santos, are interred.
A horse-drawn carriage bearing his dark mahogany casket will lead a procession around the cathedral, highlighting a ceremony fit for a prince of the Church, complete with full state and military honors including a 21-gun salute.
Father Rufino Sescon, Sin's private secretary for seven years, said the President would lead the state honors at the cathedral steps.
Bishop Villegas is expected to deliver the homily.
Sin's successor, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, Papal Nuncio Antonio Franco, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, and Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, will each deliver a message.
"We will make the burial orderly," Sescon said, adding that the cardinal expressed this wish after viewing on TV the interment of Pope John Paul II in April.
To ensure an orderly ceremony, organizers will allow only 50 people in the crypt, Sescon said.
Symbols
According to Sescon, Sin personally chose his burial place -- the spot beside that of Manila Archbishop Gabriel Reyes.
The cardinal will be buried with all the important symbols of his priestly life.
His body is garbed in a red cassock and sash -- the basic uniform of cardinals -- along with an alb, pectoral cross and stole, as well as a gold chasuble given to him by Pope John Paul II and a gold-trimmed miter, another gift from Rome.
A staff bearing his "serviam" logo, the first he received when he was ordained bishop in Jaro, Iloilo, is in the casket. But Sescon said it would likely be transferred to a museum before the burial.
"This is his original staff," Sescon said. "He preferred this one even if he received so many other staffs."
Sescon said organizers were considering putting a "time capsule" summarizing Sin's life inside the casket.
The last important items that Sin will bring to the afterlife are a rosary, a symbol of his intense Marian devotion, and his bishop's ring.
VIPs, plain folk mourn Cardinal Sin’s death