Vidal may attend papal election

Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal may leave for Rome by midweek to attend the conclave of cardinals that will elect the next pope, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said yesterday.

CBCP spokesman Monsignor Hernando Coronel said Vidal is expected to still be in the country Wednesday morning for the special Mass for the late John Paul II at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros. Either Vidal or Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco would be the main celebrant in tomorrow’s Mass, he said.

Vidal would be the lone Filipino cardinal in the conclave to pick the next leader of the Catholic church. Retired Manila archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin is frail of health and unlikely to make the long trip to Rome, while Jose Tomas Cardinal Sanchez, who is based in the Vatican, is already overage at 85 years old. — Evelyn Macairan