A Blessed First Anniversary

One year ago today, on 1 May 2011, I had the privilege of witnessing and covering the Beatification of John Paul II at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.  

I have yet to post all the pictures of that once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I nevertheless blogged about it in my Facebook account.

Although I described the confluence of emotions I felt at that time, I didn't mention what actually took place between live reports.

During the Beatification ceremony itself,  I was scheduled to file several phoners and two live reports for our local news programs in the Philippines, one at around 9AM Rome time (3PM Manila time) and another at around Roman noon (6PM Manila time).

Doing the live report and narrating what was happening at the square was no problem; getting from one point to the other was what proved to be the big challenge.

My first live point was situated at the border of Vatican City and Rome,  just outside the steel fence or barrier separating the city-state and Italy.  The other one was on the rooftop of some building at Piazza del Risorgimento, which is just about 300 meters from the square.

I don't know if you were able to watch video or see pictures of the event.  But there was literally a multitude, a sea of people numbering from between 1.5 to 2 million. The people filled the entire square and spilled over to as far as who knows where.

What should have taken a leisurely 5-10  minute walk from the Vatican border to the rooftop location... took more than two hours! (The fact that I wasn't familiar with the numbering scheme for piazzas and vias also did not help, as I got confused looking for the building which housed the satellite provider.)

But by some stroke of luck (or more like through the intercession of Blessed John Paul II)... I made it a good 15 minutes before the live window to Manila opened.

The picture above doesn't lie: I was burned, I was parched, I was exhausted (and I looked bloated, perhaps from exhaustion and jet lag.)

But it was worth it. 

Happy anniversary, Blessed John Paul II!

A Life with Karol

...is the title of the book written by Pope Blessed John Paul II's personal secretary, Don Stanislaus Dziwisz (now the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, Poland).

Among the countless biographies and books written about John Paul II, Dziwisz's is perhaps the most intimate (albeit sanitized), owing to the fact that Don Stanislaus collaborated closely with the Holy Father... for 40 years!

Who would know John Paul II better, than the man....

...who saw him through the "Polish Years", as he started his ministry as the Archbishop of Krakow...

...who celebrated with him as he was named a principe ecclesiae, a prince of the church...

...who helped him carry the loneliness & personal burden that came with the papacy & living in a foreign land...

...who held his hand after he was shot by an assassin at St. Peter's Square in 1981...

Stanislaus Cardinal Dziwisz

...and who journeyed with him as he fulfilled his earthly mission?

No doubt and no less than Don Stanislaus Dziwisz.

Dziwisz was not only the pope's private secretary.

In the 40 years they worked together, he became many things to Karol.

He was the pope's apprentice, his confidant and also his friend.

But most importantly, Dziwisz was Karol Wojtyla's son, a dutiful son who saw him through life...and accompanied him through death.

Here was a man who shared his life with another... whose life was no longer his own.

As you probably would have guessed, I got a copy of  A Life with Karol when it made its way to Philippine shelves in 2008.  (I would like to thank my friend Willard Cheng for scouting the bookstores for this 'treasure.')

Like any real life narrative, the book's most poignant part is... it's ending.

Many accounts about what really transpired on the night of John Paul II 's death have been told or have made their way to pages of books, documentary interviews or internet articles.

But none of these will ever have Dziwisz's unique personal perspective.

Of all the people who felt the pain of John Paul II's passing, Don Stanislaus' was perhaps the most pronounced, the most heart-wrenching.

This man, who always stood poker-faced beside the pope wherever the Holy Father went and who never seemed to show any emotion when in public, cried "tears of joy and grief at the same time" as he bid his spiritual father farewell on the night of 2 April 2005.

This bittersweet and melodramatic ending... was what Don Stanislaus had to endure.

This was... his life with Karol.  

Like Don Stanislaus, many of us also have our own personal experience(s) with the Blessed Pope.

My 'close' encounter was seeing him through binoculars, as he presided over the mass that formally closed the 10th World Youth Day in Manila  in 1995.  

Despite the distance, I still felt his holiness, his charisma, his presence.

Five years later, I would have another 'personal experience' with him, this time via correspondence. Like a grandson writing to his grandfather, I asked him for words of encouragement, wisdom and advice during a time of personal struggle.

(Of course,  an official at the General Affairs Section of the Secretariat of State, and not the Holy Father himself, replied to me.   I would later learn, however, through one of his biographies that JPII would keep all letters sent to him in a compartment in his prie dieu or kneeler and would pray for each senders' intentions.)

And who would have thought that sixteen years after the 'first encounter', I would meet him again,  this time at the mass that will proclaim him "Blessed?"

Thanksgiving Mass after JPII's Beatification

What a privilege and blessing it truly was to have witnessed and covered that event!


However, this 'personal relationship' with him, did not stop there.

It still continues to this day.

Each time I find myself in trouble or in dire need, I would run to John Paul II and ask him to intercede for me at the footstool of the Almighty Father's throne.

This is my living experience with the pope of my youth...my pope.

This is my life with Karol.

7th Heaven

I will contradict myself again.

Although I mentioned in a previous post that I do not believe that numbers or number combinations govern, influence, dictate or play a role in how one's life will turn out...  

this post will slightly be about numbers.

In fact, this post will be brought to you by the number 7.

For one, this is my 7th post. <*clap, clap, clap*>

For another, the Catholic Church today, 19 April 2012, celebrates a historical milestone.

In a very special way,  we remember the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who, 7 years ago on 19  April 2005, was elected as the 264th Successor of St. Peter.

We pray that God will continue to bless him with good health, strength and wisdom to lead the Universal Church especially amid the pervading culture of death and relativism in today's society.  

(Let us say 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1 Glory be for the Pope and his intentions.) 

--o0o--

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God.

But lest we forget, before he became all these...he was JOSEPH CARDINAL RATZINGER, Archbishop of Munich und Freising, Germany (1977–1982),  President of the International Theological Commission (1981–2005),  Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1981–2005), President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (1981–2005) and Dean of the College of Cardinals (2002–2005).

Yes, he was a cardinal, a Prince of the Church, and therefore...a part of this collection.

And yes, I wrote to him as well.

Ten years and 19 days ago today, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote back to me.

Actually, he didn't write anything.

Instead, he sent me two cards: 

Ratzinger card number 1

For the longest time, I did not know what to make of these. 

First of all, the text was written in German which... ich verstehe nicht (I do not understand!) 

Secondly, I do not know what these cards are for: Invitations, perhaps? Stationery?  In any case, they are memorabilia!

Thirdly, why didn't he write anything on them or sign his name at the very least?

Raztinger card number 2

I was inclined to believe (and quick to blame) the pope's secretary, Msgr. Georg Gänswein, for presumably taking it upon himself to sort and read through Cardinal Ratzinger's mail without even showing His Eminence what the correspondence is all about.

I also assumed his secretary was also the one answering the letters for him.

But I was wrong. 

Msgr. Gänswein, Bel Giorgio or Beautiful George, only became Cardinal Ratzinger's secretary, replacing Bishop Josef Clemens, in 2003...a year after I wrote the cardinal. 

Whoops! Sorry naman.

So I'm blaming Bishop Clemens.

I'm kidding.

Eventually, I saw the wisdom in his decision not to write anything.

As the Catholic Church's doctrinal watchdog for 24 years, his duty was "to promote and safeguard the doctrine on the faith and morals throughout the Catholic world: for this reason everything which in any way touches such matter falls within its competence."

Therefore, any document, communication, letter or constitution written by his congregation and signed by him is crucial and may change the doctrinal landscape as we know it.

Affixing his signature and giving it freely even to an unsuspecting fan like me, may be VERY DANGEROUS.

In this day and age when signatures can easily be scanned or forged and security features of documents can be faked or reproduced, lending one's signature to anyone can have disastrous consequences...especially in matters of faith, doctrine and morals.

Imagine if a letter coming from the Congregation makes it to your doorstep saying...you have been excommunicated...or that your parish organization is schismatic. Horror of horrors!

That is why I respect Cardinal Ratzinger's decision not to have sent me anything with his signature on it.

Very well played, Your Eminence, very well played.

Nevertheless, I thank you for your "gifts."

Incidentally,  it is interesting to note that the pope's signature is posted in the Wikipedia entry about him:

In my opinion, this is such a dangerous thing to do.

But then again... it would be very difficult to come up with encyclicals, apostolic letters, exhortations and other documents and simply affix this signature to make them appear they were written by the Pope himself.


First of all, you'd have to learn to write in Latin to be able to do that...


But more importantly, you'd have to have Joseph Ratzinger's gifts of intellect, profundity depth and of course, the backing of the Holy Spirit to convince me that a document actually came from the pope.

Enough said.

Prize Catch

The most elusive is the best catch of all.

This is perhaps what describes my next featured cardinal.

At the imposition of the red biretta during the rite of their creation, cardinals are exhorted by the Holy Father to serve the Church, "even to the point of shedding blood ."  

But it wasn't this cardinal who bled...but me (not literally of course).

How, you may ask?

Despite painstakingly sending him letter after letter to ask for some sort of memorabilia, His Eminence NEVER responded.

Perhaps there was a logical explanation to this...I thought to myself.  There has to be. There always is.

Finally, when the cardinal granted me his autograph...I had already lost 7 full years of my sanity thinking what I could have written or done wrong. (I exaggerate.)

Yes, 7 years.

And it had to merit a face-to-face encounter with His Eminence to make it happen.

I could only think of two reasons why he could not accede to my request: (1) this cardinal was already tucked away in much-deserved retirement after long years of service and grueling work for the Church and did not anymore have the benefit of having a personal secretary or an office staff to assist him; and (2) he lived far, far away...in Rome.

Yes, I gave His Eminence the benefit of the doubt.

And no, I did not have to go all the way to Rome to claim my prize.

As if by Divine Providence, I met the cardinal here...holed up in a convent in the Diocese of Novaliches.

Having been the prefect of a major Vatican department, His Eminence had the true bearing of a Prince of the Church and a member of the Pope's temporal government.. when I finally met him on 20 April 2007.

His Eminence had an air about him: he was very proper, very scholastic and very dignified.

But he also exuded warmth and humility, despite living and working among the snooty bureaucrats of the Roman Curia for at least 20 years.

This is because this cardinal...is FILIPINO.

Without further ado, I introduce to you the Bishop Emeritus of Lucena, the Archbishop Emeritus of Nueva Segovia and the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy, His Eminence Jose Tomas Cardinal Sanchez.  (APPLAUSE)

Taken on 20 April 2007

The purpose of that fateful meeting on 20 April 2007, was not simply to ask for Cardinal Sanchez's autograph, but to interview His Eminence for a television report and magazine article that I was set to produce about him, the 5th Filipino to be elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals.

Sadly, not many Filipinos know him and only came to know of him because of his death very recently on 9 March 2012.

The reason for the obscurity and estrangement is perhaps because he lived away from home for at least 20 years.

I am especially proud to say that I am one of the very few Filipino journalists to have made "mini-biographies" about His Eminence to make him known... to his very own people.

Much of what transpired during that interview is written in a magazine article I wrote and a TV report which aired back in April 2007. 

But I recently posted a note about that encounter on my Facebook account the morning that he died.

But I still need to share how I finally got his autograph.

As we were discussing Church issues over a snack of pastries and bottled iced tea (yes, sweet stuff I would dare not eat if I were his age), I digressed and looked for an opportunity to tell him that I was his stalker, a crazed fan.

Mustering enough courage, I said, "Eminence, I wrote you many times before but you NEVER responded."

"Is that so?" came his reply.

So I dared to ask him, "Can I please have my picture taken with you and get your autograph?"

He willingly obliged.

It's a good thing I came really prepared.  Not wanting to have him sign on a plain sheet of paper from my reporter's notebook, I brought out my copy of John Paul II and His Cardinals, one of the resources that helped me build my collection.

The Elusive Autograph

I turned it to the page where his picture was.

His face suddenly lit up and he said, "That's me!" 

He skimmed through the other pictures of his batchmate-cardinals who were named along with him in the consistory of June 1991.

And then...he finally affixed his signature.

And so it happened....

Indeed, good things come to those who wait....patiently.

P.S. Pardon the sarcasm

Eternal rest grant unto Jose Tomas Sanchez, O Lord. And let your perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.

Viam Veritatis Elegi

The truth hurts. 


For me it did...at least initially.


After the preliminary success of what I now call the "Cardinal Sin Showcase," I began writing letters to other cardinals to ask for more tokens or memorabilia.


Proximity-wise, the next logical step was to go by geographical area or region. 


So I chose Asia.


Since Asia and Oceania only had a handful of cardinals, I was expecting a considerable haul in the succeeding days.


But the truth is, no responses came for a number of weeks.


It was already close to Christmas but Santa Clause had yet to come to town.


However, in many respects, what the second cardinal-sender gave me was truly...a gift.


That gift came to my house days before Christmas, when the postal service was busy sorting or sending out Christmas mail...(or keeping them from reaching their intended destination, for a later, less hectic or off-peak season.)


But despite its lateness (by my standards), the fact is, this piece of mail came at the perfect time.


Perhaps the sender wanted to make sure that Cardinal Sin's response made it to me first before his...in deference to the Primate of the Philippines. 


Perhaps the sender timed it so that the post would really arrive in time for Christmas Eve. 


Or maybe...just maybe...the envelope chose to take another mail route...a longer and more difficult route, that, although more challenging, nevertheless guaranteed an abundant reward waiting at the end of the journey. 


This route...this way... is perhaps...the Way of Truth..


Viam Veritatis Elegi..."I have chosen the way of Truth." 


This is perhaps what accurately describes the life and ministry of my cardinal number 2, His Eminence Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, now the Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu.  


The phrase is the cardinal's motto as a bishop, a motto he has sworn to faithfully live by to the end.

Photograph & Archdiocesan seal

Unlike Cardinal Sin's "gift" which was, to say the least, overwhelming, Cardinal Vidal's envelope contained a typewritten letter, a Christmas card, a stamp of the Archdiocesan seal, and his photograph, autographed at the back. 


Perhaps the best words to describe Cardinal Vidal's parcel are simple and humble...much like the cardinal himself.


Gift received. Thank you, Your Eminence.


But what I never expected to happen after receiving this gift was to have the chance to visit and interview His Eminence one-on-one, ten years later, a day after he stepped down as the Archbishop of Cebu on 13 January 2011.


I wrote that story, which aired on the cardinal's 80th birthday on 6 February 2011, much like a valedictory piece, a tribute to His Eminence for his invaluable contribution to this country. (As a matter of fact, I even got criticized online by one viewer, for seeming like the cardinal's public relations officer, for all the positive comments that I made of him in that report.)


But I believe it was only fitting.


I never regretted anything I wrote in that report because everything was the truth. 


Unknown to many (because the cardinal always shunned the limelight), Cardinal Vidal was instrumental in restoring peace and democracy in this country, especially during the Marcos and Estrada regimes. (Many thought it was only Cardinal Sin who ran the show.)


He, on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines, also issued many strongly-worded statements against the pressing issues of our time, and even expressed his willingness to go to jail  if the Reproductive Health Bill, the focus of much debate between the Church and State, will be enacted into law.


And did I mention that His Eminence was the only Filipino cardinal to have participated in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005?

Taken at the cardinal's private residence in Cebu, 14 January 2011

In spite of all his achievements, however, the cardinal stayed in the shadows because he never intended to walk the red carpet of success, but had chosen to walk...the way of truth.


He says he did all that he could for Church and country for the sake of transparent governance, for peace in the country, for the salvation of souls, and most importantly, for the love of Truth Himself and the Blessed Virgin Mary.


In fact, to this day, despite his advancing age, Cardinal Vidal says he continues to tread the way of truth, not because he experienced delays or got lost along the way, but because he feels he still needs to shepherd souls who may have strayed because of  the lies and deceit that continue to hound and threaten society today.


Viam Veritatis Elegi.


Indeed, this cardinal has chosen the way of Truth.

Primus Inter Pares

Many cardinals have come. Many have gone.

Some became more popular than others. Some simply faded into obscurity.

But my first cardinal will be the one I will not easily forget.

Primus inter pares... the first...among equals…is how I call him.

It was late October, the year was 2000.  I just quit my first job as a segment producer-reporter for a government station. I was restless, waiting for calls from prospective employers, both here and abroad.

The truth of the matter was, I was idle, I wasn't doing anything.

And I was really bored.

Having exhausted all interesting movies and shows on cable television for the night, I retired past midnight, even if I wasn't really sleepy.

I was already in bed for a good hour, but my mind did not, as of yet, want to slow down. I was thinking of things to do in the days to come, things to while away the time.

It was about 2:00AM when a brilliant idea crossed my mind: why not write to the Filipino cardinals?!

Yes, the three Princes of the Church, the leaders of the Church in the Philippines who had a direct line to the Holy Father!  Perhaps one day, one of them will become pope; at least I've already had the opportunity to interact with them, even through correspondence, before they become "unreachable."

But what would I say to them?

Fortunately, I did not have to think hard. Within minutes, sentences started flooding my mind. Not wanting to waste any more time, I got out of bed, turned on the PC and started typing away. (That letter would eventually become the template I would send out to all the cardinals I would later write.)   

In that letter was an explanation of who I was, my interest in the papacy and the cardinals, and a request for a blessing, an autographed picture or a holy card to remember the cardinal by, 'since it would be next to impossible to have an audience with Your Eminence.'

It was 3:00AM when I finally finished.

In the morning, I printed three letters with corresponding envelopes written out to the following: (1) His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila, (2) His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu and (3) His Eminence Jose Cardinal Sanchez, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation of the Clergy in Rome. I immediately sent the letters out.

About three weeks later, in November 2000, I was walking in our front yard when I noticed a long brown Manila envelope at the foot of our gate. It was presumably tucked on top of the gate but fell off because of the weight of its contents.

I picked it up to see who it was for, and I was surprised that the parcel was addressed to me.

"To JOSE MARIA M. VILLARAMA II

From THE ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA"  

My heart raced!

I struggled to open the package...a rather big one from Jaime Cardinal Sin himself!  

Scenes of Sin by Noli Yamsuan

As I unwrapped the envelope, a coffee table book entitled The Scenes of Sin by the cardinal's official photographer, Mr. Noli Yamsuan, instantly revealed itself.  

On the first page, just after the front cover,  was a dedication "Joe Marie, Best Wishes! (sgd) +Jaime Cardinal Sin".  

Dedication and Autograph by Jaime Cardinal Sin

A letter envelope also accompanied the parcel. In it was a typewritten letter from the cardinal, thanking me for my warm greetings and for my interest in the Church. Enclosed was another surprise: a photo of the smiling cardinal, dressed in full cardinalatial regalia and on which the same dedication "Joe Marie, Best Wishes! (sgd) +Jaime Cardinal Sin," was written!

I was overwhelmed! 

I was overjoyed!

I also felt humbled.

Just four years earlier, in 1996, when the Cardinal Sin came to our parish to bless our newly-constructed parish formation center, I froze as His Eminence, with all the formality and bearing of a true prince, passed inches away from me. I was supposed to have kissed his ring, but I was awestruck and dumbfounded.

Now, I was staring him again in the face (or at least a photograph of him).

But this time, I was no longer nervous. 

+Jaime Cardinal Sin

I was smiling...and he was smiling back at me.

To date, the memorabilia Cardinal Sin sent me has never been rivaled by any other cardinal I have so far written.

For this, I will forever be grateful to Cardinal Sin.

Thank you Your Eminence…

…my archbishop… my cardinal…

…my primus inter pares... my first among equals.

Adjutorium Nostrum

Popular belief dictates that things, whether good or bad, always come in threes.

I do not buy this notion since I believe that God, in His Infinite mercy and goodness, is more powerful than any mathematical combination.

While numbers (thanks to my college Math 53 instructor for teaching me this ) have a limit , God is infinite.

But for poetic license's sake, let us make believe that things do come in threes, and that three things actually helped build my scarlet menagerie. 

Looking at the sorry state of my scrapbook, my collection would not seem to be worth anything.

But those who have seen it are, in their own words, awed at how I was able to build such an album or how I got the cardinals to respond. 

The first step in the process was getting to know who is who and where they can be reached.

Initially, I had the resources of Catholic-Pages  to thank. (Sadly, I found out recently that the resource was last updated in 2007).   But since I did not always have access to the internet during those early years, I had to resort to ever-reliable printed resources. 

An indispensable resource, the 2001 Annuario Pontificio

My first resource, which is one hell of a database, is the Catholic Church's official directory, Annuario Pontificio. In it are the names and contact details of the cardinals, bishops and other prelates of the Universal Church all over the world. (I got the 2001 edition, which was hot off the Vatican press at that time.)

The second resource that helped me in my gathering process was a coffee table book which I did not think twice about buying. This beautiful book is entitled John Paul II and His Cardinals, which included developments about the Public Consistory of 2001,  where a record 44 new Princes of the Church were named.

Resource 2: John Paul II and His Cardinals

The book not only featured colored photos of the current members of the Sacred College but also a simple explainer or catechesis of who and what cardinals are, and what role they play in the life of the Catholic Church.  Candid photos of cardinals getting their vestments made also added more color and humanity to the cardinal-making process, which was perceived to be too exclusive or too highbrow for the ordinary Catholic to understand.

The third resource, which ultimately allowed me to carry on with my work despite the obstacles was..... faith.

Faith that the letters will get to where they were intended to go.... Faith that the cardinals will not turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to my simple request....Faith that the Lord will bless my work, even if some consider my endeavor to be a lost cause, a worthless pastime. 

But with faith and God's help, I was able to make it.  

I was able to survive.

God did not let me down.

With faith and certainty I can truly say....

Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini. (Our help is in the name of the Lord)

Qui fecit caelum et terram. (Who made heaven and earth)
 

... as I embark on this new expedition in the still uncharted digital continent.

(P.S. In a very special way, I would like to thank Rev. Fr. Ronald M. Roberto,  pastor of Krus na Ligas (Holy Cross) Parish , for patiently answering my questions about Latin vocabulary and grammar, which I would be using in many of my posts. Salamat Father!)

The Scarlet Menagerie

 I had a boring childhood.

Sure, I’ve had my share of rough and tumble fun and adventure during my youth, but my boyhood was mainly defined by the four key institutions where my world seemed to revolve back then: (1) home, (2) school, (3) church and (4) hospital, in that order.

When all of my classmates and friends were busy collecting action figures, toy cars, novels or superhero cards, I was busy collecting…nothing.

(Would the anti-asthma drugs I took from birth to when I was about 19 years old qualify?)

But I later discovered I was just a late bloomer.  Since I focused most of my youthful energy on academics, I only found the time for R&R … when I started working.

My first crack at attempting to build a collection (my own collection that is, not something I shared with my brother) was when I was already 22 years old.  Yes, it took that long.

I was the type of person who, once I set my sights on something, is determined to finish the race or make it happen. (Apparently, this is not the case now… if we’re talking about my plans to go back to school or  to simply keep my Twitter account or my previous blog running. Anyway, I digress…)

But what could I possibly collect? 

Coins?

Nah. I haven’t traveled enough to have seen or used that many coins.

Books?

Believe it or not, I hate to read.  (And if ever I do collect books, the selection would be so limited that I would already call a set of 10 books "a good enough collection.")

The Cardinals' Replies (Uncataloged)

Hmmm... how about writing to famous people and asking for their autographs? 

Now that’s a start!

But which set of people?

Royalty? Presidents? Hollywood stars?

Then it struck me.

Why not the members of the Sacred College of Cardinals? Yes, the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church!

Naturally, many people posed the big question: WHY THEM?

After having been asked the question perhaps a hundred times, I learned to distill my answer in three sentences: (1) They are Princes of the Church, equivalent to princes of reigning royal houses in civil protocol; (2) They are the only ones who can elect the Pope in a conclave during sede vacante; and most importantly, (3) Any one of them, as long as they are below 80 years old, CAN BECOME POPE.

But despite this explanation, I still get the occasional blank stare and the perfunctory “uh-huh” from those who ask why.

My Scrapbook

In hindsight, I think I was generally successful at my endeavor.  Although I wasn’t able to consistently write all the cardinals or keep up with the changes in the college, I think I was able to get some “prize catches” and was able to come up with a modest “collection” that I compiled in a scrapbook.

To date, I have over 80 holy cards, photographs, seals, signatures, a book and even a poster-size coat-of-arms sent by cardinals from all over the world (plus, the stamps that came with the letters to boot) ; not a bad batting average despite such a peculiar collection.

Of course, there were low moments in the collection process. Some of the cardinals, despite repeated my attempts at correspondence, sadly,  never responded. I also fell behind in cataloging some of the "relics."

Nevertheless, after twelve years and 80+ collective pieces, I can now claim success.  

And this, my scarlet menagerie, is what I intend to share to the digital continent through this humble blog.

However, the buck does not stop here.

This collection, as with any other collection, continues to evolve and is dynamic.

With the addition of 22 new cardinals to the College last February 2012....it’s open season once again.

Resurrectionem

I want to be a cardinal.

Perhaps this is the only answer that will make sense, if you ask me why I am so engrossed about the Princes of the Church.

This desire is not unknown to many of my associates, co-workers, friends, family and even the priests I have come to know in my work as a journalist and in my service as a Lector or Minister of the Word.

In fact, for the past twenty years, I have been living the life of a cardinal.

'Your Eminence' is how some friends and at least 2 priests call me, despite not being a member of the clergy or of  the Sacred College of Cardinals.

In grade school, my first public foray as a cardinal was when I played the role of a bishop, in a skit about the Sacrament of Baptism that we had to act out for religion class. Draped in a white linen sheet and a red skull cap, a remnant of my father's uniform as an altar server in his youth, I performed the rite... on a doll.  Our teacher, Mr. Joseph Morales, critiqued us, and his words will forever remain in my memory:  'The bishop was good, he was convincing.'

In high school, my episcopal career flourished. I made the campus my archdiocese. I was the  cardinal protector of a make-believe religious order headed by a classmate.  In college, I made 'pastoral visits' complete with miter & crozier to student org events and came in "abito corale" (yes, I have one, complete with red biretta and zucchetto) for my parish org's Christmas costume party.  I had snooty 'official photographs' taken of me in full gear, photos worthy of being hung in palaces and cathedrals (and my titular church in Rome, of course!)

I also have a coat-of-arms with the episcopal motto  "Non possomus, non loqui," a contraction of the passage from Acts 4:20 ("It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”), primarily chosen because of my work as a journalist. My zucchetto or skull cap size is 8 and I wear a crucifix ring on my right ring finger.

Of course, the cardinalatial trappings are all a JOKE.  

A former parish priest, who once saw me dressed in full ecclesiastical garb, said I very much look  the part.  More importantly, he said I was not committing any sin or violating any law. (I hope he is right!)

If anything, my fondness for all things scarlet is an insight into how passionate I am about the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, not because of their fancy vestments or the honorifics attached to the office, but because of the role they play in relation to the papacy and in the pastoral governance of the Universal Church.

In 2008, I officially blogged about my interest in the papacy, the cardinals, Eastern Christianity and basic Catholic teaching, among other things. But perhaps because (1) of my work as a field reporter then, (2) of the demon of sloth, or (3) the focus of my blog was all over the place, things fell apart.

I stopped blogging.

Yes, it was a sad day for me and for those who may have been interested in my work...or those who may have been instructed or evangelized because of it.

But here I am, attempting to blog...again.

Three things convinced me to re-try blogging: (1) I am a big fan of a great Catholic blog,  Whispers in the Loggia by Rocco Palmo, which I would like to emulate; (2) I can very much identify with the characteristics of a Catholic blogger being described in this article about   Catholic blogging ; and (3) most importantly, I feel drawn to the Holy Father's renewed call for   New Evangelization.

With God’s help, I am optimistic that I will be able to carry out this mission.

But of course, there is a slight challenge that I must first hurdle. Catholic blogs, as we know, are a dime-a-dozen in terms of content and sadly, boring.  Some readers get turned off, too, by bloggers who are more preachy than informative, and who tend to rub into readers' faces that "I know something that you obviously don't."

In choosing the cardinals as the central theme of my new blog, I hope not to become a copycat of countless other blogs already discussing the subject.

But just how will I do that?

The simple principle that will guide me is this: I will draw everything from my personal experience to make it my own.

In the succeeding entries, you will find out just how my entries, without need for a copyright, will become uniquely my own. (But realistically speaking, I will have to inject or quote news about the Sacred College of Cardinals every now and then, as the need arises.)

Pray with and for me, then, that I may be able to do my best.

With feeble and insufficient human hands, I hope to do my share...'in the vineyard of the Lord.'

Peace be with you!

(Dedicated to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his 85th birthday and the 7th year of his pontificate)