RP bids farewell to Sin

Retired Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, to whom the nation turned for guidance in times of political turmoil and who played a key role in people power revolts that ousted two presidents, died yesterday. He was 76.

Sin had been ill with kidney problems and diabetes for years and was unable to attend the Vatican conclave that chose a new pope in April, although colleagues said he desperately wanted to go, even if he needed a wheelchair.

Hundreds of mourners began streaming to Manila Cathedral in Intramuros beginning yesterday afternoon to pay their respects to Sin, including former President Corazon Aquino, a close friend.

Church leaders were consulting with Sin’s family on funeral arrangements. His body was to be buried in the crypt beneath Manila Cathedral.

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, who succeeded Sin, said the burial is tentatively scheduled for next Tuesday.

"He is not only a prince of the Church or a plain bishop, he is a prophet of our time," Rosales said of his predecessor. "His life was a great gift to the Church. And now that he has been called by God, I am calling on all Filipinos to pray for him and to thank God for his life and for his service to the Church and the country."

Sin served as the moral compass of Asia’s bastion of Catholicism.

He took vocal, sometimes controversial stances on everything from birth control to poverty, politics and the US-led war in Iraq. He once apologized for Church neglect of the poor.

Known for his dedication, engaging personality and sense of humor — he often referred to his residence as "the house of Sin" — the cardinal was one of Asia’s most prominent religious leaders.

Aides had to help a weak-looking Sin to the altar toward the end of his tenure as Manila archbishop. He suffered a heart attack in October last year.

Sin’s departure from the office he held for 27 years marked the end of an unprecedented period of political activism by the Catholic Church, although it remains a potent force and a key backer of President Arroyo.

Although he largely lived quietly in seclusion after his retirement at Villa San Miguel, his Mandaluyong City residence, Sin remained a staunch defender of democracy.

Sin was one of the few vocal critics of military rule after dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972.

"My duty is to put Christ in politics. Politics without Christ is the greatest scourge of our nation," he said at his retirement ceremony.

Hours before hundreds of soldiers and officers staged a failed coup against Mrs. Arroyo in July 2003, he urged Filipinos to be vigilant against groups plotting to violently overturn the country’s democratic institutions. The 19-hour uprising failed.

"As I enter a new chapter in my twilight years, I can say with gratitude that I have given my very best to God and country," he said after the late Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation. "I beg pardon from those I might have led astray or hurt. Please remember me kindly."

Father Jun Sescon, Sin’s spokesman, told dzBB radio that the cardinal was taken to Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan with a high fever on Sunday night and suffered multiple organ failure. He died at 6:15 a.m. yesterday.

Although Sin had breathing difficulty towards the end, Sescon said he was ready for his final journey. "Our call to all the faithful is to include in their prayers the soul of Cardinal Sin."

Sin had been deeply affected by the death in April of his friend John Paul II — who solidly backed Sin’s fight against Marcos — and it possibly led to a deterioration of his own condition, Sescon added.

"He truly was affected by the loss of our beloved Holy Father," Sescon disclosed, recalling that Sin had wanted to attend the funeral but had been too ill.

Sin’s remains were brought to Manila Cathedral around 12:45 p.m. A convoy of vehicles escorted the hearse. He was bedecked with the church vestments Sin was known for, but this time complete with white gloves and his mitre.

A company of Philippine Navy honor guards and Church officials welcomed his simple brown coffin, which was carried into the cathedral to the foot of the altar by 10 priests led by Sin’s former spokesman, now Balanga Archbishop Socrates Villegas.

A large flower-decorated portrait of Sin sat in one corner of the altar. A Mass led by Rosales followed. Among the audience members were former President Aquino and former Philippine ambassadors to the Vatican Henrietta de Villa and Howard Dee.

"You measure the greatness of a tree by the number of its fruit," Rosales said in his homily. "But as the tree grows old, you no longer measure its greatness by the number of its fruits but by the length of the shadow it casts on the landscape."

In a television interview one of Sin’s brothers, Ramon Sin, remembered him as a man who was "deeply in love with the Filipino people" but was also full of good humor and laughter, even during tense moments.

"He was never comatose," he said of his brother’s last moments. "Yesterday morning he was not feeling well but he was not comatose. He was on dialysis but he remained a jolly person."

Born on Aug. 31, 1928, Sin was the 14th of 16 children of a Chinese merchant and a Filipino woman.

He balanced joviality with deep spirituality and seemed to have a sixth sense, said Archbishop Oscar Cruz, former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

"He would say, ‘A bishop just died, would you please call to find out who he is?’" Cruz recalled.

Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, the CBCP’s current president, praised Sin not only as a "brother and a friend" but also as a "great man, a great Filipino and a great prince of the Church."

Sin, Capalla said, has "entered into real life, one that never ends."

People power

Sin entered San Vicente Ferrer Seminary in Iloilo City at the age of 11. Ordained in 1954, Sin became the youngest member of the Vatican’s College of Cardinals when he was made a prince of the Church at the age of 47.

Sin burst onto the international stage in February 1986 when he went on radio and called on Filipinos to surround Camps Crame and Aguinaldo with a human barricade to protect a puny mutiny led by then-military deputy commander Fidel Ramos and defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile, who broke away from Marcos.

That led to the "people power" revolution, which ousted Marcos over alleged corruption and human rights violations. The largely peaceful revolt became a harbinger of change in authoritarian regimes in Eastern Europe. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989.

But the country’s problems continued, partly because of the endemic corruption that blossomed under Marcos. "We got rid of Ali Baba, but the 40 thieves remained," Sin once quipped.

Sin also helped lead large street protests that led to the ouster of President Joseph Estrada over alleged corruption and misrule in January 2001. The Catholic Church wasn’t fond of Estrada, a notorious womanizer who sired children by several women and was known for late-night drinking and gambling sessions.

Marcos and Estrada were replaced respectively by Aquino and Mrs. Arroyo, both devout Catholics.

Mixed legacy

Impoverished followers of Estrada, denouncing Sin and politicians who forced their idol from power, stormed Malacañang in May 2001 in riots that killed six people.

Sin issued an unprecedented apology to the poor shortly thereafter, acknowledging that the Church had neglected them and made them easy prey for selfish, powerful people. He offered reconciliation to the poor and assured them that the Church was not "anti-Estrada, but pro-morality."

Although revered by many Filipinos, Sin came under criticism over his active advocacies. He had a thorny relationship with President Fidel Ramos, a Protestant whose 1992-98 administration promoted the use of artificial birth control. Sin advocated only natural methods.

Some say Sin’s legacy is mixed. Critics called Sin a "politician-priest," saying he interfered in political matters in which the church should have kept its distance.

Analysts say the 1986 and 2001 popular uprisings have left the country with an unstable system in which politicians are quick to use the threat of "people power" as a weapon against an incumbent president.

"His record, for me, would always be mixed," said Nelson Navarro, an expert on church affairs. "He was correct in taking the Church to tackle the issues of the day. But he got enamored with power and became a power broker."

Politicians trooped to Sin’s residence during elections for his endorsement when he was Manila archbishop. — With Non Alquitran, Edith Regalado, AFP, Reuters