Cardinal chides ex-mayor for statement

After advising Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña against giving in to his mercurial temper, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal admonished yesterday ex-mayor Alvin Garcia for being too harsh on the ailing mayor.

"You should be charitable naman," the cardinal said when asked for comment on an earlier statement by Garcia, Osmeña’s political rival, that what is happening to the mayor is either "divine justice" or bad karma or gaba in Cebuano. The man (Osmeña) is already sick," the cardinal told reporters yesterday after the Palm Sunday Mass.

"We should practice charity at all times, just like the way Christ taught us. That charity is love. He said love one another just as He loves us. By that, He also meant love your enemies because it is in doing so that we are at peace," the cardinal added. Vidal also took the opportunity yesterday to call on political leaders to be "charitable to one another."

Lifting from a scriptural context where "charity" means "love," the cardinal urged political leaders to practice the teaching of Jesus on "selfless love" so the community may live in peace. The cardinal visited Osmeña last Saturday at the Chong Hua Hospital where the mayor is recuperating.

"Let us all pray for Tom, because he is our political leader," Vidal said.

The cardinal said he engaged the mayor in a casual and brief conversation so as not to tire him.

"He has to take some time away from work. He is so drained and exhausted with all the problems of the city," the cardinal said. He added: "I told the mayor to be patient. I told him to avoid anger. But of course, this cannot be avoided sometimes. I advised him to be graceful in meeting the needs of the people. We must be happy in whatever work we are in. Just as Christians must always be happy because the Lord is with us." — Freeman News Service