Vidal undergoes cataract operation

After recovering from pneumonia last month, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal underwent a cataract operation in an undisclosed hospital in Manila recently.

Vidal, who was supposed to attend the Anak TV forum at the Sacred Heart Center and the closing rights of the PNP Values and Leadership Training, was advised by his doctor in Manila to cancel all his appointments until such time his eye patches are due for removal.

At the Anak TV forum yesterday, Southeast Asian Foundation for Children and Television president Edgardo Roces said Vidal has been advised to rest after undergoing the operation.

"Let us pray for him, our beloved archbishop will return soon in Cebu with bionic eyes," Roces said.

Meanwhile, Fr. Carmelo Diola of Barug Filipino represented Vidal in the closing rights of the values and leadership training of the PNP.

The prelate was confined at the Perpetual Succour Hospital last June for fever and minor pneumonia.

Before falling ill, Vidal had just returned from a month-long trip to Rome to attend Pope John Paul II's funeral rites and the Conclave, until the investiture of Pope Benedict XVI.

Aside from that, Vidal has been active in the campaign against the proposal to split Cebu into four provinces, the expanded Value Added Tax, and illegal gambling. - Jasmin R. Uy