Product Code Database
Ricardo Tito Jamin Vidal (February 6, 1931 – October 18, 2017) was a Filipinos prelate of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Made a cardinal in 1985, he was Archbishop of Cebu from 1982 to 2010.
Vidal studied at the Minor Seminary of the Most Holy Rosary (now Our Lady of Mount Carmel Seminary) in Sariaya, Quezon, and at the Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Lipa, Batangas, where he studied philosophy. He also studied theology at the San Carlos Seminary in Makati, Metro Manila.
He was appointed Coadjutor of Malolos on November 30, 1971 and was consecrated bishop by Archbishop Carmine Rocco, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines. Less than two years later, he was appointed Archbishop of Lipa by Pope Paul VI. Pope John Paul II appointed Vidal Coadjutor Archbishop of Cebu in 1981 and he became archbishop there on August 24, 1982, succeeding Cardinal Julio Rosales.
Vidal was a frequent collaborator with Bishop Teofilo Camomot and bore witness to the native Cebuano people prelate's claimed miraculous deed. Vidal also helped found the Catechist Missionaries of St. Theresa, a Catholic religious congregation.
Vidal was President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) from 1986 to 1987 and became Chairman of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on the Clergy in 1989. He was appointed the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences's Convenor of the Standing Committee (1985 to 1994). He was a delegate to the Synod on Reconciliation (1983), the Extraordinary Synod (1985), the Synod on Priests (1991), and the Synod on Religious Life (1994), and also served as President Delegate at the 1989 Synod on the Laity. He was also a member of the Permanent Council of the Synod from 1989 to 1994. Vidal's posts in the Roman Curia included memberships in the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Congregation for Catholic Education, and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers.
In 1989 Corazon Aquino asked Vidal to convince General Jose Comendador, who was sympathetic to the rebel forces fighting her government, to surrender peacefully. His intervention averted what could have been a bloody coup.
In 2001, during the 2001 People Power Revolution Vidal convinced President Joseph Estrada to step down. Estrada was later detained. Vidal along with Senator Manny Villar and House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. wrote a letter appealing to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to grant pardon to Estrada in the "spirit of national unity and reconciliation". Estrada was pardoned and released from detention on October 26, 2007.
In retirement, Vidal lived in Sto. Niño Village in Cebu City. He continued presiding at Masses and attending events organized by the Archdiocese of Cebu. He underwent a coronary angiogram procedure and had a pacemaker installed in 2004. He experienced a mild stroke on September 23, 2013. He was confined to the hospital multiple times beginning in 2014 for pneumonia. He was confined in a hospital in May 2017 for the same illness, given the Catholic sacrament of anointing of the sick on October 11, and died on October 18.
He also received recognition from the House of Representatives through House Resolution 593. The Province of Cebu gave the highest award that a province could give, the Order of Lapu-lapu. The cities of Cebu and Talisay made him an "adopted son" of the two localities. In March 2009 the University of the Visayas granted him the title of Doctor of Humanities honoris causa.
|
|
