Arroyo here for Cebu archdiocese anniversary

CEBU, Philippines – President Gloria Arroyo will be here in Cebu today to grace the 75th anniversary of Cebu as an archdiocese. This is her fourth visit to Cebu this year.

Arroyo, who was in Cebu last Thursday during the 28th Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges Federation General Assembly, is expected to arrive at 4:30 p.m. and will proceed to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral for a High Mass.

Together with Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral parish priest Roberto Alesna, Arroyo will lead the unveiling of the marker for the restoration/renovation of the said church. and will enter the “Holy Door” before the High Mass.

The Holy Door, which is dubbed as the “door to heaven” will be opened starting tomorrow and remain open for a year.

It will be closed for 25 years before it will be opened again. 

Papal Nuncio Edward Joseph Adams, the representative of Pope Benedict XVI is expected to deliver the message of the Pope. Six hundred priests and 38 bishops nationwide are expected to join the celebration.

The High Mass will be celebrated by Vidal and concelebrated by the 38 bishops.

Arroyo will be staying at the Malacañang sa Sugbo overnight and will proceed to the Province of Antique the following day.

Today’s opening events will be a start of a series of events and celebrations that will last until April 28, 2010.

During this period, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral will be a pilgrimage site where pilgrims who pass through the Holy Door will gain plenary indulgence granted by the Holy See on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee.

After the High Mass a cultural dinner-show will be held at the Cebu International Convention Center, wherein guests will be feted with a diorama in songs and dances of the history of the Sugboanong Simbahan (Cebuano Church).

The Archdiocese of Cebu was established by Pope Pius XI in 1934, and its first archbishop was Msgr. Gabriel M. Reyes, who served in that capacity until 1949 when he was transferred to Manila to become the first Filipino archbishop.

At the time, Cebu had as its suffragan the dioceses of Jaro in Panay, Calbayog in Samar, Bacolod in Negros) and Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao.

Presently, the archdiocese has four suffragans with Tagbilaran and Talibon in Bohol, Dumaguete in Negros Oriental and Maasin in Southern Leyte.

Vidal is the third to occupy the ecclesiastical chair, succeeding the late Julio R. Cardinal Rosales, who led the archdiocese from 1949 until his retirement in 1981.

Vidal took the archbishopric in August 24, 1982, and was elevated to the College of Cardinals through a consistory in Rome in May 25, 1985. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon and Johanna T. Natavio/BRP (THE FREEMAN)