Cebu Archdiocese mourns passing of Cardinal Sin

The Cebu Archdiocese mourns the death of former Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin.

In a press statement, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal yesterday said he is joining all the Catholic faithful in the country in grieving the death of his friend.

"My brother and friend has passed away and I join the whole church in the Philippines in mourning his death and in commending his soul to the care of our eternal father," Vidal said.

"His passing away leaves a vacuum in our hearts at a time when our nation needs a voice to speak the truth for us and to us. I ask all the faithful in the Archdiocese of Cebu to offer prayers for the eternal repose of his soul. May our shared grief unite us to work together for the good of the church and of our nation," he said.

Msgr. Achilles Dakay, Cebu Archdiocese spokesperson said that he would never forget Cardinal Sin since they were ordained on the same day but of different year. Sin was ordained on April 3, 1954 while Dakay was on April 3, 1960.

Dakay described Sin as very strong and influential person, saying that he could never forget their trip to Honolulu, Hawaii to anoint President Ferdinand Marcos.

Cebu Anti-Indecency Board Chairman and Human Life International president Rene Josef Bullecer, a very close friend of the prelate, said Sin was like a father to him.

"He was always there to rescue me and give me advises in times of hardships and shortcomings," he said.

Saying that the prelate's death was untimely, Bullecer described Sin as a down to earth, helpful and a generous provider to the needy.

"I can never forget him because he always helped me get over with my problems. He had a very smiling face and once you'd take a glance at it you will feel that all your burdens are gone," he said.

He said even Pope Benedict XVI was impressed over Sin's leadership of the Church, saying that the pontiff agreed with the prelate's way of leading the Filipino people.

"Instead of getting mad at Cardinal Sin, Pope Benedict XVI said that it was just right that the role of the Church should come to the rescue of an ailing nation, a fooling government," Bullecer said.

He said that when he took the board exam in 1989, Sin was there to help him.

"I once worried about the outcome of the exams and Sin, in a fatherly way told me not to worry. I passed the board with his prayers and confiding words," he said.

He said that Sin's death is a great loss to the country. "He has shown a different kind of leadership that will be etched forever and be written in the history of the Catholic Church and the Philippines," he said.

"He had done so many things. His teachings would strengthen the Catholic Church and the Filipinos and the values that he taught us will serve as an inspiration to us all," Bullecer said.

Bullecer, who is in Manila, is scheduled to visit the wake of the late prelate this evening.

Sin, a driving force behind two people power revolts, died yesterday morning at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Medical Center in Greenhills, San Juan from kidney disease. He was 76.

Former president Fidel Ramos once called Sin the divine commander-in-chief for marshalling huge protests that drove presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph from office.

Ordained in 1954, Sin became the youngest member of the Vatican's College of Cardinals at the age of 47.

Born in New Washington, Aklan to Juan Sin and Maxima Reyes Lachica, Sin was a staunch opponent of artificial birth control. In August 1994, he led hundreds of thousands of people in a rally denouncing a government policy that encouraged the use of condoms and pills to curb the rapid population growth in the country.