CEBU Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, considered as one of the country’s most influential Catholic Church leaders, died on Wednesday. He was 86.
Vidal was rushed to the hospital for fever and shortness of breath and then collapsed into a coma, according to hospital sources..
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said the Cardinal was confined at the Perpetual Succor Hospital in Cebu City after suffering cardiac arrest.
Dr Rene Joseph Bullecer, one of Vidal’s doctors and closest friends, said he received a call that the cardinal was being revived because his blood pressure went down. The cardinal died minutes later, he said.
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In Manila, Malacanang joined the Catholic faithful in mourning the Cardinal’s death.
“The Palace condoles with the Cebu faithful on the demise of Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal this morning,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a Palace news briefing.
Abella noted that President Rodrigo Duterte and Cardinal Vidal “had a friendly, cordial relationship.”
“The good cardinal paid a courtesy call to Malacanan shortly after President Duterte assumed office and assured the Chief Executive of his fervent prayers for him and his administration,” he said.
“We are thankful for the kind bishop’s pastoral role…” he added.
At Vidal’s deathbed were his former secretaries and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, according to Monsignor Joseph Tan, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Cebu, adding the prelate’s passing was peaceful.
Bullecer said Vidal’s condition had deteriorated since Oct. 16, after he woke up from a coma on Oct. 13.
The late Cardinal was the oldest of four cardinals in the Philippines.
The other cardinals are Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo.
Vidal served as a priest for 61 years, nearly three decades of which he served as archbishop of Cebu before he retired in 2011.
He was also president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines from 1985 to 1987.
Vidal also participated in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI as the successor of Pope John Paul II. With John Paolo Bencito