Pinoys in Vatican mark Cory death anniversary with Mass

The Philippine Embassy to the Vatican organized a mass marking the first death anniversary of former President Corazon Aquino last Aug. 1, led by no less than a cousin-in-law of former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. Philippine Ambassador to the Vatican Mercedes Tuason organized the Mass on Sunday at the Basilica di Santa Prudenziana at via Urbana with the Sentro Pilipino Chaplaincy. "President Cory, we salute and thank you for your love of country, for your pride of being a Filipino, for your bold search for the truth and living the truth. And as the Holy Father aptly puts it, for your being 'a woman of deep and unwavering faith,’" Tuason said at the Mass. She also recalled Pope Benedict XVI's message extolling Mrs. Aquino for "her courageous commitment to freedom of the Filipino people, her rejection of violence and intolerance, and her contribution to the rebuilding of a just and cohesive political order in her beloved homeland." Excerpts of Tuason’s remarks were posted Sunday on the Department of Foreign Affairs website. The DFA also quoted basilica assistant parish priest Fr. Ricky Gente as citing the works undertaken by Mrs. Aquino from 1986 until the last moments of her life. For their part, Filipinos who attended the Mass also offered prayers for the success of present Philippine President, Mrs. Aquino's son, Benigno Simeon Aquino III. Ambassador Tuason was named to the Vatican post in April 2009. While she said the former First Gentleman and her late husband are cousins, she shrugged off speculations that these ties got her to the plum post in the Vatican. — LBG, GMANews.TV