RP’s Catholics mark Cory’s 1st death anniversary with Sunday Masses

Catholic Churches nationwide will offer Sunday Masses to mark the first death anniversary of former President Corazon “Cory" Aquino. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said the Masses will be offered from as far north as Lingayen-Dagupan to as far south as Zamboanga. “The Filipino people (were) gifted by the Lord during the dark and difficult days with the person and leadership of President Cory.... She showed us how love of God and love of country can be lived in our lives as individual Filipinos and in our collective life as a nation," Zamboanga Archbishop Romulo Valles said in an article posted Saturday night on the CBCP news site. Valles will lead a memorial Mass for Mrs. Aquino at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Zamboanga City Sunday. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas will lead in a special Mass for Mrs. Aquino at the St. John the Evangelist Metropolitan Cathedral in Dagupan city. Villegas is a protégé of the late former Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who played a key role in catapulting Mrs. Arroyo to the presidency in 1986. In Cagayan de Oro City, a Mass will also be offered for Mrs. Aquino at the St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral. Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma said he is praying that the late President's legacy “live on in the present administration" under her son, President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy Aquino III. In Iloilo, former CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said Mrs. Aquino will be remembered in Mass intentions at the Our Lady of the Assumption parish and the Carmelite Convent. Mass intentions will similarly be offered for Mrs. Aquino at the Prelature of Isabela in Basilan province. Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad said that while they have no special celebration, the most they can do tomorrow is to include Mass intentions in their nine parishes. Calbayog Bishop Isabelo Abarquez said he will include Mass intentions for the late president in his Mass at the St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral. Mrs. Aquino died on Aug. 1 last year after a battle with colon cancer. She is credited for restoring democracy in the Philippines after a bloodless people’s uprising that toppled then strongman Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorial regime. — LBG, GMANews.TV