Priests remember Sin on 13th death anniversary

If Jaime Cardinal Sin were alive today, would the Church have been more vocal on issues confronting the Catholic community and society?

The outspoken archbishop of Manila played a leading role in the Edsa People Power Revolution that toppled the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986.

“Cardinal Sin lived in a different time (with a) different context,” Msgr. Rolly dela Cruz said in his homily on Thursday during the Mass commemorating the 13th death anniversary of Sin at Manila Cathedral.

“Will he be doing the same thing if he were alive today? Maybe, maybe not,” he said.

What is important, Dela Cruz said, is that the Catholic Church speaks up and continues to proclaim the Gospel.

In a separate interview, Fr. Reginald Malicdem, the cathedral’s rector, explained that the situation during the 1970s until the 1990s, when Sin was archbishop of Manila, was different.

Listening church

“People then wanted the Church to speak,” Malicdem said. Today, “with Pope Francis, it’s more of a listening church.”

If he were alive today, Sin would have probably seen that the times called for the need to educate people and let them make a stand and speak out, he added.

“It is not the role of the Church to tell the people to stage rallies, or to vote for this and that (candidate), or to fight the government. Act based on your formation, education, conscience,” he said.

“Will the voice of the Church be mightier? Yes, because it is the people who will speak and make a stand,” he said.

Sin died on June 21, 2005, of complications from kidney disease resulting from diabetes.