SIN STEPS DOWN; ROSALES SUCCEEDS
PHOTO AT LEFT Courtesy of Malacanang: President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo congratulates Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales upon her arrival this morning (November 21) at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila to witness the latter’s installation as the 31st Archbishop of Manila. (Malacañang Photo)
MANILA, November 22, 2003 (STAR) By Jose Aravilla and Ann Montemar-Oriondo - A soft-spoken bishop — an environmentalist who fought illegal loggers in Mindanao — appealed for unity yesterday as he was installed as the 31st Roman Catholic archbishop of Manila in over 400 years.
In ceremonies attended by President Arroyo and other government officials at the centuries-old Manila Cathedral, retired cardinal Jaime Sin turned over the Manila archbishop’s pastoral staff he has held for nearly 30 years to new Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales.
Rosales, 71, was appointed Sin’s successor by Pope John Paul II after Sin reached the retirement age of 75 last August.
"More than at anytime in our history, people are searching for honest, sincere and truthful ways toward unity, a way that will ultimately bring them justice, righteousness and peace," Rosales said in a speech. "There is only one strategy for unity... the only way to unity is love."
As head of the Philippines’ most important archdiocese, Sin was recognized as the leader of the Catholic Church during the turbulent martial law years in the predominantly Catholic country. He rallied "people power" uprisings that toppled the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and President Joseph Estrada in 2001.
"The past 29 years were not easy years," the ailing cardinal said in a speech. "You and I lived dangerously together through five presidents now. The past 29 years have been difficult years of rallies and peaceful revolutions."
"Many say I am too political," he added. "I have been identified with demonstrations and revolutions. Honestly, I was always a reluctant archbishop."
"I had to speak on socio-political concerns because, among all areas of Filipino life, it is politics that needs most the saving presence of Christ," Sin said. "My duty is to put Christ in politics. Politics without Christ is the greatest scourge of our nation."
Sin also asked Rosales to give him "a chance to help in every way."
He described Rosales as a priest with "clarity of vision and piety of heart."
Rosales was appointed auxiliary bishop of Manila in 1974 andas archbishop of Malaybalay in Bukidnon province, where he joined local priests in fighting illegal logging, in 1982. One priest was murdered by armed men working for illegal loggers.
In 1992, Rosales was appointed archbishop of Lipa City in Batangas.
He has described Manila as the city of "great contrasts, not merely of contradictions."
"There you have the rich and the very poor, the very learned and those who barely know they have rights, the powerful and the very weak, the deceivers and the deceived," he told a news conference in October.
Cebu Archbishop Cardinal Ricardo Vidal said Sin would be a "tough act to follow," but expressed confidence that Rosales would be able to lead the Church in Manila as it "sits on the epicenter of all political and social upheavals."
Vidal delivered the homily. Like Rosales, he served in Lipa before being appointed to the Archdiocese of Cebu. He described Rosales as someone who accepted his new post "with reluctance but also with an open heart," as he asked for support for the new Manila archbishop.
The ceremony’s highlight was the turnover of the pastoral staff from Sin to Rosales. Sin, frail and supported by aides as he walked, presented the staff to Rosales, symbolizing the turnover of the pastoral care of the archdiocese that had been in Sin’s care for 29 years.
Rosales stumbled twice, once while walking between his cathedral seat to the Manila Cathedral’s imposing marble altar and again on his way back to his seat.
He asked for prayers "that I may enjoy further physical health, a clarity of vision, the purification of my own values and always doing what God wants me to do."
Rosales was very passionate in his closing remarks, describing the gap between the rich and the poor as "inconsistencies that are difficult to explain. How does one accept hunger within sight when there is plenty?" He said it is incredible that the nation’s leaders quarrel "while the weak languish further."
Rosales will reside at the Archdiocese compound in Intramuros, while Sin will remain at Villa San Miguel in Mandaluyong City, which was originally built as the Manila archbishops’ rest house.
Known as a simple man with simple tastes, Rosales exhorted his flock to aspire for holiness, to develop a social conscience and manifest the love of Christ in concrete ways.
He has twice declined the position of president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and initially declined the post of archbishop of Manila.
Humble and gentle as he is, Rosales is the scion of illustrious families. His paternal grandfather, Pablo Borbon, was a Batangas governor and judge. His maternal grandfather, Julian Rosales, had been the presidente - the equivalent of today’s mayor - of Batangas City.
Papal Nuncio Archbishop Danilo Franco conveyed the Pope’s "warmest greetings and deep joy." He also expressed his gratitude to Sin and said that "we will accompany (Rosales) with our prayers."
Rosales said the duty of the faithful is to "repeat the love of our Father. God is God because he is love... Brothers and sisters, disunity comes from the devil."
"I will make this declaration: We cannot just move on from problems to problems, from crises to crises." he said. "Where are we going? What do we want to be?"
The ceremony lasted three hours. Rosales’ installation as Manila archbishop is the first turnover ceremony since Filipinos began leading the Archdiocese after the departure of American colonizers in 1949. All other Manila archbishops died in office.
Also at the ceremony were former President Corazon Aquino, Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., Senate President Franklin Drilon, Speaker Jose de Venecia and Senators Aquilino Pimentel, Noli de Castro, Loren Legarda and Ralph Recto and his wife, actress and Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos.
The congregation included the country’s bishops, priests from the archdioceses of Manila and Lipa, members of the diplomatic corps, religious and lay workers, papal awardees, the physically challenged and parishioners from Malaybalay, Bukidnon and Batangas, whose archdiocese Rosales had served.
Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. stole the show as he lined up to kiss Rosales’ ring and the crowd broke out into cheers. Rosales gave Davide a tap on the cheek.
A lunch reception followed at the Villa Immaculada behind the Manila Cathedral.