Cardinal Sin gets full state honors

MANILA - Jaime Cardinal Sin was accorded full military and state honors when he was buried Tuesday (June 28)in a crypt beneath Manila Cathedral, where other Filipino bishops are interred.
President Arroyo has announced a week of national mourning for Sin as hundreds of mourners filed past his coffin ever day.
Mrs. Arroyo also ordered Philippine flags to be flown at half-mast from Saturday until the period of mourning ends on Tuesday.
Sin’s flag-draped coffin was accorded military honors at the steps of the cathedral. Then it was placed in a horse-drawn carriage for a procession around the Plaza de Roma in front of the cathedral.
After the procession, the coffin was stopped before the steps of the cathedral and honored with a gun salute. The Philippine flag draped over the coffin was then folded and handed by the President to Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales or Sin’s relatives.
The casket was then brought inside the cathedral at noon and taken to the crypt for interment. Sin was placed beside the remains of former Manila archbishop Rufino Cardinal Santos, his immediate predecessor.
Sin had chosen the spot where he wished to be buried during an earlier visit to the cathedral.
“He never talked about his death. But I remember that when we went down the crypt, he asked me where he would be buried. He asked where his place was, and he pointed to a spot next to the tomb of Archbishop Gabriel Reyes,"Fr. A Sescon recalled. “His wish was followed.”
Only 50 people were allowed to accompany Sin’s coffin to its final resting place. Among them are the President, Papal Nuncio Antonio Franco, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Davao Archbishop and Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Fernando Capalla, some dignitaries, selected bishops and members of Sin’s family.
Sin’s handwritten letters and other memorabilia were collected and sent to a museum that will be built at Cardinal Sin Village - an urban poor housing project in Punta, Sta. Ana, Manila.