Sin hospital stay extended for a day

Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin will have to stay in the hospital for one more day, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Socrates Villegas said yesterday.

Sin, 74, was brought to Cardinal Santos Medical Center in Mandaluyong City last Sunday after suffering a seizure after celebrating Mass at his nearby Villa San Miguel residence.

Doctors at the hospital have decided to extend Sin’s stay so they can observe his response to the reduced dosage of his medications before finally discharging him, Villegas said.

He noted that doctors are confident that Sin, who will celebrate this Thursday his 49th year as a priest, will be discharged before the end of the week.

On Monday, the Archdiocesan Office announced that Sin may be discharged from hospital by today as his condition continued to improve.

"Considering that (his condition) has returned to normal, the doctors have started giving him the ‘home dosage’ for his medications, and want to see him as if he were home," Villegas said.

Yesterday, the Cardinal was allowed "his favorite soup, called ‘Buddha Jumped Over the Wall,’" Villegas said.

The day before, Sin had chicken — as he had requested — after doctors who earlier prescribed a soft diet determined that he may now eat solid food.

Doctors said earlier the seizure may have been caused by a mild stroke which the Cardinal was unaware of. They were still trying to determine the cause, Villegas said.

Sin heard Mass, presided by Villegas, early Monday morning. He was accompanied by his secretary, Fr. Jun Sescon. The papal nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Antonio Franco, has been his regular visitor.

Sin is set to retire on his 75th birthday on Aug. 31, although the Cardinal earlier expressed a desire to seek early retirement.

Monsignor Hernando Coronel, secretary general of the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said cardinals and bishops are supposed to retire upon reaching 75.

Selection of the next cardinal or bishop is held discreetly, said former CBCP president Oscar Cruz, Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop. The Apostolic Nuncio conducts a survey searching for the replacement of a bishop or cardinal who is ailing or about to retire. He then makes a recommendation to the Pope, who will make the final decision.

"Thus, nobody would really know who shall be the successor. The Apostolic Nuncio coordinates with all the bishops and lay people of the country and not to the CBCP per se," Cruz said.

"It’s very discreet that, in fact, if somebody knows about something and reveals it, he’s guilty of a moral offense that can only be lifted by the apostolic nuncio himself. The secrecy is so mandatory that if it is breached, the one responsible will be subject to penalty."

Sin is considered the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, which counts about 80 percent of the country’s 80 million people among its flock.