Cardinal Vidal remembered as a peacemaker, pastor

October 25, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 2 Print

Cebu, Philippines, Oct 25, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, the late emeritus Archbishop of Cebu, Philippines, will be buried Oct. 26 in the mausoleum at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, alongside the remains of his fellow deceased bishops of Cebu.

Vidal, who died Oct. 18, served as Archbishop of Cebu from 1982-2011, and was named a cardinal in 1985. Alongside Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila, Vidal support the Philippine People Power Revolution of 1986, a series of demonstrations and protests leading to democratic elections in the Philippines. Vidal frequently intervened for peace during the difficult early years of democracy in the Philippines.

Father Francis Lucas, executive director of the Catholic Media Network in the Philippines, recalled that the 1986 democracy movement “was an expression of the Church leadership’s care for the masses of poor and oppressed sector. Cardinal Vidal’s participation as leader showed in his humble quiet manner revealed a staunch heart, a strong faith, and a deep care as a pastor protecting the lives of the Filipinos.”

“His move passed on the strong will to believe that a revolution can be done in a peaceful manner, that God hovers over the faithful, that hope will always result good for the hopeful; a united community of faith can prevail,” Lucas told CNA.

Edwin Lopez, director of EWTN’s Asia-Pacific Region, and a personal friend of Vidal, agreed. Lopez told CNA that Cardinal Vidal was both a national leader, and a personally generous pastor.

“His humility and self effacing humor allowed one to reflect on lessons without being told directly. However, when necessary, he could be very direct and assertive as a loving father and caring teacher. He had a very reassuring presence,” Lopez recalled.

Lopez recalled a time in which he was experiencing a spiritual crisis, and feeling alone. “Then suddenly the phone rang. It was Cardinal Vidal on the other line. It was probably the shortest phone call I had ever received in my lifetime from a prince of the Church, but the most assuring. His words were, ‘Do not lose heart. Have courage. I am praying for you.’”

Once, Lopez recalled, “he met with me in his kitchen while having a hair cut! He always made sure no one was left out.”

Lucas also recalled the cardinal’s pastoral charity. He recalled Vidal’s kindness to him as a young priest. “He loved the priesthood and his priests as a gentle pastor,” Lucas said.

Lucas said that Cardinal Vidal had a personal impact on his life, but also left a lasting mark on the Philippines. He taught that “conflicts can be resolved through peaceful means recall memories of friendship, sacrifice, mettle and good of the many,” Lucas said. He reminded Filipinos to “be strong in your loyalty to God the Church and values in a firm but peaceful stance.”

Lucas encouraged Filipinos to remember Cardinal Vidal’s “humility, gentleness, and firmness in the faith at all costs.” He encouraged Filipinos to honor the cardinal’s memory by “becoming peacemakers and purveyors of hope in this conflict-ridden and seemingly hopeless society.”

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Hong Kong bishop dies at age 73

January 4, 2019 CNA Daily News 1

Hong Kong, China, Jan 4, 2019 / 02:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung of Hong Kong died in hospital Thursday at the age of 73, after suffering liver failure due to cirrhosis.

He had been admitted to Canossa (Caritas) Hospital Dec. 27, and died the afternoon of Jan. 3.

A board of eight senior members of Hong Kong’s Church administration met Jan. 4 to discuss the diocese’ future leadership, and decided to hold off on choosing an acting bishop as interim leader of the diocese until after Yeung’s funeral, the South China Morning News reports.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing of Hong Kong reportedly told the media that the diocese was particularly saddened by Bishop Yeung’s death, because his condition had been described as stable only a few hours before his death, though he had evidently been facing health problems for several years.

The bishop’s funeral Mass will be said Jan. 11.

Bishop Yeung was born Dec. 1, 1945 in Shanghai, and ordained a priest of the Hong Kong diocese in 1978 after studying at a pontifical Roman university.

He then earned a master’s degree in communications from Syracuse University in 1982, and later a master’s degree in education from Harvard University in 1990.

Since August 2003 he had served as the head of Caritas Hong Kong, and was vicar general from 2009.

He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Hong Kong in 2014, and coadjutor bishop in 2016. He succeeded  Cardinal John Tong Hon Aug. 1, 2017.

From the very first homily after his installation, Bishop Yeung talked about serving the poor, the sick, and the needy, because, in his words, “the well-being of society requires the fostering of genuine ecology and unceasing efforts to bring about integral human development,” and said that “the Chinese government has generally encouraged the religious sector to participate more in social and charitable services.”

The Caritas Institute of Higher Education, of which Yeung was chair, held a Requiem Mass for the bishop’s soul Jan. 4. The school is seeking to be recognized as a university and change its name to “St. Francis University,” the organization announced in 2014.

As a special administrative region, Hong Kong has a large degree of autonomy from mainland China, with its own political and economic system. The territory was a British colony from 1842 until 1997.

There are some 581,000 Catholics in Hong Kong, or about eight percent of the population.

Bishop Yeung previously told CNA in an interview that the Catholic Church “mustn’t compete with the communist party for power and authority in this world. The Lord Jesus never told the disciples to compete with the Roman empire…the Church has, however, her role to play. She is called to have a good attitude to dialogue, and at the same time she is called to tell the truth, and to speak out against social injustice, when the latter happens.”

Yeung’s death comes at a time of rapprochement between the Vatican and the Chinese government. Last month, two bishops of the Vatican-approved underground Catholic Church in China agreed to step aside in favor of bishops of the communist-supported Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, in the wake of a September 2018 deal signed between the Holy See and the Chinese government.

 

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