Manila prepares for largest burial

As thousands of mourners are expected to troop to the Manila Cathedral tomorrow to bid farewell to the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, Church officials said they are preparing for what they described as the grandest funeral in the history of the archdiocese.

"Definitely this will be the biggest burial in the archdiocese of Manila. There will be a huge turnout. People will come in droves. I am sure those who will come will come not just for the sake of curiosity," said Fr. Rufino Sescon, Sin’s former spokesman and secretary.

Preparations for the funeral rites are in full swing. Sescon said four large video screens will be installed outside the cathedral to give mourners a chance to see what is going on inside, especially at the crypt where Sin will be buried.

Sescon said they have made arrangements with the Manila city government and the Philippine National Police to ensure that the entire affair will be safe, orderly and secured.

Personnel from the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Intramuros Administration will marshal the flow of vehicular traffic around the cathedral, which will be surrounded by steel barricades installed by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

President Arroyo, Vice President Noli de Castro, and Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., as well as Metro Manila mayors and congressmen are expected to attend the funeral Mass at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Students from schools belonging to the Manila Archdiocese and Parochial Schools Association and the College Educators Association of the Philippines are also expected to attend the Mass. They will gather at Rizal Park at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow and proceed to the cathedral.

The Apostolic Nunciature is expected to send a delegation led by Papal Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco, the Vatican’s representative in the Philippines.

Four foreign cardinals, Sin’s close friends, will fly into the country to attend the funeral rites: Julius Darmaatmadja from Indonesia, Roger Mahoney from Los Angeles, Stephen Kim from Korea and Paul Shan from Taiwan.

Clergymen from Kalibo in Aklan, Jaro in Iloilo and the province of Capiz, where Sin had served as bishop, will attend the funeral rites "in force," Sescon said.

Church officials will close the cathedral at 2 a.m. Tuesday and throw open its doors four hours later for the funeral rites.

Sin will be accorded full military honors, including a 21-gun salute, at the cathedral steps. His remains will be loaded onto a horse-drawn carriage for a procession around the Plaza de Roma in front of the cathedral.

"Normally, church people are not given (such) honors, but because of his role in history, the President has ordered that he be given full military honors. This is the first time that such an honor has been given to a clergyman," Sescon said.

After the procession, Sescon said Sin’s casket will be brought inside the cathedral for burial in the crypt underneath the altar. Church officials said only 50 people will be present as Sin’s casket is lowered into the crypt.

"As of now we only want it at 50. But this is already too much. (Expected to be present) are members of (Sin’s) immediate family, including his brothers Manuel and Ramon and sisters Ceferina and Mary; Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal; Franco; (and) former auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Manila, including now Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz," Sescon said.

Though the President will be present at the rites and will hand the national flag to Sin’s relatives after the procession, Sescon said he does not expect her to go down the crypt. The President may be provided with a special television monitor for her to watch the burial, he said.

Sescon said staff members of Villa San Miguel, Sin’s official residence in Mandaluyong City, will get the casket from the priests and "will be the ones to lower it down the crypt. These people were really the ones serving the cardinal."

Sin’s remains will rest beside the tomb of another former Manila archbishop, Rufino Cardinal Santos.

Meanwhile, Cruz said there is a "100 percent" probability that the Vatican may choose Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales as the next Filipino cardinal following Sin’s death.

"As far as the process is concerned, the archdiocese that has a cardinal and he dies, that archdiocese will get another cardinal," Cruz said.

Cruz added that though Rosales will retire at age 75 two years from now, he is convinced that Rosales can still serve effectively as cardinal. He pointed out that by tradition, the archdioceses of Cebu

and Manila are always led by cardinals, the "princes" of the Church who are called on to elect a new pope from among their ranks.

Sescon is also convinced that Rosales will be a shoo-in for the post of cardinal.

"It is very possible. Whoever occupies the See of Manila, becomes a cardinal," he said.

Last Friday, National Artist Napoleon Abueva took a plaster cast of Sin’s face to create a death mask.

"Certain sectors have approached us and asked if we could have a death mask (made) for the cardinal. As we know, the death mask is an important symbol for great persons of history. And after asking friends and family members of the cardinal, we called up... Abueva, who also made the death mask for Fernando Poe Jr. and also made the statue of the cardinal at the Cardinal Sin Village" located along the banks of the Pasig River in Punta, Sta. Ana, Sescon said.

Sin’s bronze death mask will be available by next week, according to Sescon, who added that the mask may be used as a reference for statues bearing Sin’s image.

"You will notice that the archbishops buried in the (Manila Cathedral) crypt have busts. But they do not really resemble their features. The bust should really resemble his (Cardinal Sin’s) features," Sescon said.

He believes Sin would not object to having a death mask.

"The cardinal is humble. But part of humility is also accepting how people love and admire you. He knows that this is the way people want to show their affection and that is also part of humility," Sescon said.

Sescon said Abueva has not said how much he will charge the archdiocese of Manila for Sin’s death mask. "We have not agreed on a price yet. I hope the cardinal (referring to Rosales) will intercede (on this)," he said.

Meanwhile, Sescon said Sin will be buried along with a "rogito," a time capsule similar to those that accompany popes into their final resting place.

"The time capsule will be a summary of his life and reign as archbishop of Manila. The time capsule will contain newspaper clippings of his death, coins to mark the year of his death, and a miraculous medal," he said.

Since his days in the seminary, Sin has always carried what Catholics call a "miraculous medal," which bears an image of the Virgin Mary.

Sescon also said Sin’s staff, which has the word "serviam" — Latin for "I serve" — written along its length, will be buried along with him.

National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Vidal Querol said at least 300 policemen will be deployed around the cathedral to provide security since more than a dozen foreign cardinals are set to attend Sin’s funeral rites.

Querol will meet with church leaders today to finalize preparations for the burial and security arrangements for top government officials, foreign dignitaries, and VIPs paying their last respects to the late cardinal.

Aside from managing the flow of traffic and allocating proper parking areas, Querol said policemen are set to keep petty criminals and vendors away from the cathedral premises today and tomorrow.

He warned rallyists against taking advantage of Sin’s burial to air their grievances.

"They should refrain from capitalizing on the gathering of people to air their political opinion," Querol said. "Let us abide by the wishes of the Church to keep the occasion solemn and prayerful." — With Non Alquitran