Vidal to attend Pope’s last Mass

Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal will leave for Rome today to attend the final Mass to be officiated on Thursday by Pope Benedict XVI before he officially bows out of the papacy.

The 82-year-old prelate will travel to Rome with  Msgr. Dennis Villarojo.

Vidal can no longer vote for the next Pope since he is over 80, an age cut-off for electors.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, 55,   is also flying to Rome for the final Mass. He will be the lone cardinal-elector from the Philippines. .

Vidal presided over the Mass to welcome the relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face at the Carmelite Monastery in Mabolo, Cebu City yesterday.

Vidal urged the faithful to pray for Pope Benedict XVI as well as the coming conclave that will take place not later than March 20.

“We have to pray that we will be able to select the leader for our Catholic Church; the one who is needed for today,” he said.

While no one knows who the next Pope will be, Vidal said the successor of St. Peter will be chosen upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

“It all depends on the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that selects,” said Vidal, who is  already retired but still  a  member of the College of Cardinals.

Cardinal Tagle has been mentioned in various commentaries as Asia’s best propect to be named the next Pope, something he refuses to comment on,  appealing instead for people to pray.

“I am inviting all of you to pray for Pope Benedict XVI especially as he devotes the coming years at the service of the Church through a life of prayer. Let us also pray for the cardinals who will elect a new Pope in the coming conclave,” Tagle said in his message posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippine’s website.

Like any other Church leader, Tagle said Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation came to him as a surprise.  Tagle, who worked with Benedict XVI before he was elected Pope in 2005, lauded the Holy Father’s “humility, honesty, courage and sincerity.”

“His paramount desire is to promote the greater good of the Church. We know that the papal ministry is not an easy task. So we thank Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected Pope at the rather advanced age of 78, for selflessly guiding the Church these past eight years with his teaching, simplicity and gentleness,” he said. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol