Tribute for the late Cardinal Vidal goes viral

A video documentation shows thousands lining up the streets of Cebu City during the 30-minute funeral procession for the late Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

The drone video, taken by videographer Caloy Ramirez, that lasts a little more than three minutes starts as the casket of the late Cardinal was taken out of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral on Thursday, Oct. 26.

As of posting, the video entitled "A Tribute to Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal" that shows the streets around the church filled with people has about 13,000 views, more than 300 shares, and more than 500 likes.

The activity was attended by the country's three remaining cardinals, Gaudencio Rosales, Orlando Quevedo, and Antonio Luis Tagle together with bishops and auxiliary bishops from different parts of the country.

Also in attendance were priests, religious sisters, and seminarians.

Media reports quoted Cebu City government officials as saying that the crowd that attended the activity reached about 55,000.

Cardinal Vidal passed away early morning of Oct. 18, a few days after he was admitted in the hospital for pneumonia.

A native of Marinduque, he was ordained a priest in Lucena in Quezon in 1956. He was assigned as coadjutor bishop of Malolos, Bulacan in 1971.

He became the Archbishop of Lipa in 1973 before he was assigned to the archdiocese of Cebu as coadjutor bishop in 1981 and then archbishop one year after to succeed Julio Cardinal Rosales.

Vidal was named cardinal by Saint Pope John Paul II in 1985.

Vidal's 29 years as Archbishop of Cebu was the longest term of office in the country's largest archdiocese that also include suffragan dioceses of Maasin, Leyte, Bohol and Dumaguete.

He led the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) from 1985 to 1987, a pivotal time in Philippine history as he issued a statement condemning the results of the 1986 snap elections. The move eventually led to the infamous People Power Revolution.

He also spearheaded the cause for canonization of the country's second saint, the boy catechist from the Visayas, Pedro Calungsod. — BAP, GMA News