Cardinal Sin

When it was proposed to him that he would become Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Sin (at that time Archbishop of Jaro, Iloilo) begged to be excused. He did not think he was worthy of the position. He gave the Nuncio several reasons. Among them, the fact that he had never attended a university. All his education had been in seminaries, first at Capiz, then at Jaro. Also, he said that he was perfectly content in his position as Archbishop of Jaro. Finally, and most important, he did not speak Tagalog, the language of the people of Manila and its environs. The Nuncio ignored all those reasons except one: he sent him a Tagalog grammar so that he could learn Tagalog.

That is the way Jaime Sin explained it at his inauguration as Archbishop of Manila.

His self-deprecation was particularly gracious at his inauguration as member of the Academy of the Spanish Language. He said he did not feel worthy of the honor as he had never pretended to be a poet or any kind of writer. Referring to his Cardinal’s robes he said, "underneath these rags beats the heart of a simple parish priest." (Bajo estos trapillos late el corazón de un padre cura.) Then quoting a well-known Spanish proverb but changing it a little he said, "Because a monkey dressed as a cardinal remains a monkey." (Porque la mona, aunque se este de cardenal, mona se queda.)

Obituaries on Cardinal Sin at his death stressed his role in public life. That was of course very important. But, as a tribute to his memory, I would like to recall the little things that indicated his style. He brought to the governance of the archdiocese a spirit of friendliness, of kindness and consideration, a non-repressive policy, a sense of humor – qualities not always present in some episcopal administrations. Also a spirit of simplicity.

To give an example: When he took over Villa San Miguel, his official residence, he found that the principal room was an audience hall, a throne room. The archbishop’s throne was on a high dais, with a throne upholstered in cardinalitial red, with a purple canopy and purple hangings. Jaime Sin removed the throne, replaced it with an altar, converted the audience hall into a chapel.

He was available to priests who wanted to see him. (Not always the case with exalted prelates.)

On one occasion when I was confined in a hospital after an operation, Cardinal Sin came to visit me. He stayed only a short time, but we chatted amiably. He told me of his visit to my brother’s home and how he liked the coffee. I found out later that on one day of the week he would go to the hospital and visit every priest who was confined as a patient. He considered priests as first priority. Later, he made a public apology that he had not given sufficient attention to the masses of the poor, the multitudes without a shepherd.

Undeniably Cardinal Sin had many faults and failings. One of them was his lack of reticence. He had a certain naiveté which impelled him to blurt out whatever came to mind without sufficient discretion. He told jokes that were not always appropriate for the occasion.

One man who had prospered enormously during the Marcos regime said to me that Cardinal Sin was nothing but a buffoon. That may have been his own personal opinion. But if he was voicing the general assessment of his confreres in the Marcos administration, then they had fatally underrated the Cardinal. He was by no means "merely a buffoon." He was in many respects an astute man and he was highly respected by right-thinking people. It was his call over Radio Veritas that people responded to, and they went in the hundreds of thousands to EDSA, braved the tanks and the tear gas, and thus destroyed a seemingly invincible dictatorship.