Manila (AsiaNews) – Card. Gaudencio Rosales, 31st Archbishop of the Philippine capital is writing his letter of resignation in order to be able to leave his post August 10th next. He himself confirmed the news to priests in Manila: “I will submit my letter of resignation on June 10th. That will give the Vatican two months to process it”.
On August 10th in fact the prelate will turn 75, according to the Code of Cannon law the age at which he is required to resign from his post. However this does not mean that Rome will accept his resignation, and many in the Philippines believe that Benedict XVI will confirm card. Rosales in his post for a further 5 years.
One of Manila’s priests explains that the archbishop is “mentally alert, physically strong and has a warm, fatherly heart of a priest”. According to Fr. James Reuter, director of the Catholic Media of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, “the cardinal is doing magnificent work with his Pondo ng Pinoy [fund of Filipinos for the poor ndr] and that his work is known and appreciated also in the Vatican”.
The programme provides for the daily donation of 25 Philippine centavos [circa 1euro cent] from each member of the catholic community. The amount gathered throughout the Archdiocese is then given over to the Churches charitable programmes.
The Fund, continues the Jesuit priest, “will not solve the problem of poverty in the Philippines, card. Rosales is well aware of this. It serves to teach our people to reach out to each other, and that is at the heart of Christian Charity taught in the Gospel”.
This bishop, he concludes, “is a true pastor, a shepherd to his flock, deeply concerned for his priests, his people, and the poor and especially for the ‘lost lambs’”.