Our primatial Roman cathedral in Intramuros has broken centuries of protocol and in a first for a republic’s former head of state and a layperson Mrs Cory Aquino lies in state in the cathedral’s transept.
Not even the Spanish viceroys were granted that privilege. Only Archbishops of Manila have had the privilege to lie in state in the cathedral since the church is actually their church. However in countries with a Monarch, the late King or Queen or members of their family can be laid in state in the primatial cathedral. English monarchs lie in state in Westminster Abbey. However the abbey is no cathedral. It is a royal peculiar. It belongs to the Monarch. So Mrs Aquino has been granted a privilege that Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom will likely not use.
In the United States, deceased presidents are laid in state in the Episcopal National Cathedral in Washington DC. But the charter of the National Cathedral was granted by Congress. BTW the Episcopal Church is the closest thing the USA has had for an established church. The cathedral is America’s Westminster Abbey and its gothic grandeur befits its status. Presidents Manuel Quezon and John F Kennedy were brought to the Catholic St Matthew’s cathedral not to lie in state but for the funeral mass. Thus Mrs Aquino may be the first President of a Republic to lie in state and not just be honoured by a funeral mass in a Catholic cathedral. Only a Monarch usually has that privilege.
The blurbs say that the Cardinal Archbishop of Manila acceded to the Aquino family’s request. This break in tradition will swamp those who insist that Mrs Aquino be accorded a state funeral. That only shows that even in the 21st century, the Roman Church can upstage any civil authority in this country whether that has a palace of its own!
Popularity: 1% [?]
The late former Pres. Cory Aquino is an international figure.
She deserve the honor.
This is a telling sentence:
Yeah. Canon Law says that.
The heavens just may will it and before the next century, maybe Pinas will have a Buddhist president. Because who of men know what the heavens will will upon the Philippines?
No we should have a Muslim president first.
“render unto caesar what is caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. the archbishop of manila may choose to “break” the church’s own tradition but that is his own accountability with the catholic heirarchy. it’s one thing to separate the state from the church, it’s another thing to separate the priests from politicians. upstage the civil authority, my foot. i don’t believe that the catholic church, to which i belong since baptism shortly after my birth, is in the mundane business of “upstaging” any one or any entity.
Too bad Bencard, the sharp lawyer you I believe you are, you seem not to have studied the history of medieval Europe. For starters please read up on how Notre Dame of Chartres was built. The Roman Church is on earth to upstage civil authority!
Yep, only government is interested in that separation. The church, no.
you are talking of the medieval church, mr. professor. fyi, the church has evolved, as everything else evolves. as recently as 230 years ago (more or less) america has declared the separation of church and state (as Jesus proclaimed about 2,000 years ago. i say, a religion that seeks to “upstage” civilian authority as its main mission is not of God’s.
“Our primatial Roman cathedral in Intramuros has broken centuries of protocol and in a first for a republic’s former head of state and a layperson Mrs Cory Aquino lies in state in the cathedral’s transept.”
I dunno. But this reminds me of Patricio Mangubat’s style. Do I hear O as in Overly Active?
the church is free to offer the grandeur of its bastion to a loyal and an effective soldier. if the civil government felt awkward providing cory a state funeral or that her family refused the honor being offered for a state funeral, the ability of the church to accomodate her body in transit to her final resting place must not be seen as act of “upstaging”. let us just bury cory without interjecting politics in it and for a while pray as one nation.
thanks for echoing my sentiments, jcc, or did you?
Well Ms Kris Aquino has interjected politics in an interview with Mr Boy Abunda.
Ms. Kris Aquino sounded like she was running for president when she “reconciled” with the Marcoses.
Reconcile with murderers but not forgive someone who took away her mom’s bodyguards because of political differences. Yeah, that makes sense.
(not that I’m implying that GMA has an impeccable human rights record hahaha)
it would have been better for everyone if kris aquino zipped her mouth in public in her moment of bereavement. looks like her tongue is not controlled by her brain. oh, well, i guess kris is just being annoyingly kris.
bencard,
are you getting paranoid?
“upstaging”?
Huh???
This break in tradition is in itself notable. No layperson aside from Monarchs has been laid in state in a primatial cathedral. You can be laid in state in your parish church or your college chapel but never in a primatial cathedral. BTW there is some talk that Mrs Aquino is a saint.
Their first choice Sto Domingo Church said NO????
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI expressed his sadness at the death of former Philippine President Corazon Aquino and praised her commitment to freedom and justice for Filipinos.
The pope, in a telegram to Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila, the Philippine capital, recalled Aquino as “a woman of deep and unwavering faith” who took on a crucial political role.
Pope Benedict praised Aquino’s “courageous commitment to the freedom of the Filipino people, her firm rejection of violence and intolerance, and her contribution to the rebuilding of a just and cohesive political order in her beloved homeland.”
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0903489.htm
Well, I don’t know with you guys, but the grandeur of the facade of the Manila Cathedral and the PNP in its gala get up really reminded me of Diana’s funeral. And I do not doubt that Cory deserves just that.
deserved or not, jon, i don’t think the gates of heaven will open just because of the pomp and grandeur of a funeral.
Now Jon you know what I mean by “upstaging’ that many have missed. Our civil authorities can never match that, probably because we have more or less destroyed the traditions and dignity associated with holding civil office. Now Princess Diana while she was no longer HRH on her death, was the mother of the future king and despite her scandal ridden private life, she did do a lot of public charity. Thus she had to be buried with postmodern pomp in a medieval setting (and Elton John on the ivories!)
The Church on the other hand still provides that dignity and solemnity even if its bishops and priests are indeed compromised.
I think the whole of Philippine society has been been raised around the world out of respect the world holds for Ms. Aquino. How odd that there are Filipinos who would see fit to try to reduce her stature. This lady should be allowed to rise to the highest of heights, and Filipinos should step forward with pride from the platform she provides, heads up, eyes open.
Joe
(sorry for the duplicate post; I can only write intelligent things once a day)
Joe:
Picture this, Cory in EDSA, WITHOUT the crowds.
Bong,
Without the people, a housewife.
With the people, a nation’s hope.
Joe
Joe:
if:
Cory, Without the people = housewife
Cory, With the people = hope
then:
either
1) Cory looks at people for hope
or/and
2) People look to Cory for hope
**
With Cory gone, pinoys will look for more Corys, instead of doing a Cory :)
Bong,
Well, hopefully more people with the fundamentally sound values of Cory, but more executive moxie.
Joe
Joe:
The odds aren’t exactly favorable.
After the crowds are gone, it will be same o same o in the Philippines.
Of course, the event will be milked for its political worth – makes good telenovela.
BongV,
Well a probability of 1% is better than nothing,
and I think the internet is beginning to operate here,
rather like a reverse Big Brother,
listening, watching, shadowing . . .
Joe
Joe:
The Internet? Hmmm….
Given:
The probability is more like 0.00000009%.
The Internet was launched in the PI in the mid 90s, a decade and a half later – Big Brother is still having fun watching the ocho ocho, the vacuousness, the dysfunctionality, the surreal so-the-drama telenovelaesque life. And he barfs after watching.
Seen this mass euphoria after EDSA 1 – and… that was it. Just plain euphoria.
Change? Well.. it was change for the worse, the landlord class tightened the grip on the economy, enshrouding the protectionist policies in the constitution. and like the mythical hydra, more mini-marcoses flourished – at least with Marcos, you can identify the target. after Marcos, you would think that there will be no more marcoses. dang, the opposite happened, more mini-Marcoses sprung like mushrooms after a rainy day. make sure you have lots of ammo because your targets just increased – thanks to democrazy
People are still dying, the culture of impunity still reigns, from Marcos to Cory to FVR to Erap to Arroyo.
BongV,
Actually that is more robust usage than I had imagined. Trend? Increasing, and as the “kids” mature and find their careers impacted by government policies, they can, as many here at FV do, engage. It is a tide, slowly slowly rising. Have you ever tried stopping the sea?
Also, I like that concept of Reverse Big Brother; just the knowledge that the security cameras are there is what prevents a lot of theft. Not what the cameras capture.
Besides, what do you want me to do, collapse in my armchair in weeping despair?
Joe
just a correctiom. Quezon did lay in state in St. Matthew’s, it’s actually the only place his wake was held in 1944.
Thanks Manolo, I was looking for that bit of information to verify.
@Joe America. Definitely true and I agree with you. and I appreciate Mayor Lim, Mayor JV Ejercito and Mayor Jejomar Binay for making all these funeral preparations possible to accommodate all of us, and for helping the Aquino Family. The accommodation of the Bishops to the former Pres. Aquino has nothing to do with politics or her being a former President but as we all know, She was, after all a devout Catholic– promoted praying and strengthened the Catholic faith by setting an example– herself. She did not advocate blind faith but she taught us how to “to seek enlightenment” and draw inner strength from there. This the reason why she didn’t have to pay any one. And whatever honor she receives today given by all these people including us, she didn’t ask for all of these, we gave it to her freely, and no person has any right to question our intention nor her rights.