Rosales back from Vatican

Newly ordained Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales arrived yesterday in Manila from Rome and called on Filipinos to unite and make sacrifices for national unity.

Stepping off Lufthansa Air flight LH 877 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 6:25 p.m., Rosales was welcomed by a group of Catholic priests, lay people and media people.

"Napakaganda ng kinabukasan natin, siguro yun ang hinahanap natin, ang magkaisa (Our future looks very bright. Maybe what we are all searching for is unity)," Rosales said.

He said that he has not lost hope that Filipinos will be united one day.

"Sari-sari ang narinig ko pero ako maliwanag may pag-asa tayo. Napakaliwanag po niyan (I hear all sorts of things but it is clear to me that we have hope)," Rosales said.

The cardinal said he was touched by Filipinos’ show of unity when they trooped to Rome for his elevation as Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. All the Masses he celebrated were very well attended, he added. He said some bishops in Rome had even urged him to return so their churches would once again be filled to capacity.

Rosales disclosed that the Pope had emphasized the Philippines’ important role for the Holy Roman Catholic Church in Asia.

"The Philippines has a big role to play in Asia," Rosales said, adding that the Pope pointed this out to him on two separate occasions when he met the Holy Father.

Rosales is the sixth Filipino cardinal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. — Rainier Allan Ronda