Gibby™
Via Veritatis Book Jacket
By Jobers Bersales
Cebu Daily News
The life and ministry of Cebu’s second “Prince of the Church,” Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, was finally made known to the public last Tuesday in a grand celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of his elevation to the cardinalate. A short film and a 200-page coffee table book, “Via Veritatis: The Life and Ministry of Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal” were launched at the Waterfront Lahug amidst pomp and ceremony attended by the cardinal’s fellow bishops led by Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales of Manila, the papal nuncio Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams and Bishop Nereo Odchimar, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Via Veritatis, in English, “The Way of Truth,” is taken from the Cardinal’s Episcopal motto, “Viam Veritatis Elegi (I have chosen the way of Truth),” which succinctly captures the contents of the book commissioned by Fr. Agustin Ancajas, his erstwhile secretary, as well as the film by renowned television director Louie Ignacio. On pain of being accused of tooting my own horn, as it were, I would like the readers to allow me to share the experience I had in working on the book as its editor-in-chief and co-author.
Writing Via Veritatis was more than just a privilege. It is also a testament to cooperation, collaboration and commitment. When Fr. Ting Ancajas requested me late last year to write the biography of His Eminence, I immediately agreed. After all, we had just launched Balaanong Bahandi, the book which took only six months of research, writing and photography to produce.
Last Tuesday, I stood proud to say that we broke that record. We began the book with interviews of the cardinal in February this year. Despite his very hectic schedule, His Eminence graciously agreed to adjust his weekly rest day to accommodate four sessions spread in four weeks. And so the book is a product of just three months of intense cellphone calls, document and photo scanning, late night conferences, and sleeping at dawn to start the day four hours thereafter.
For this no mean feat, I wish to acknowledge the authors, therefore, the same ones I worked with in Balaanong Bahandi. My colleagues in the archdiocesan heritage commission, Louella “Loy” Alix and Trizer Dale Mansueto, were up to this challenge and did not fail us. The same is true for the principal photographers Mark Andrew Jorolan and Lorens Gibb Lapinid who were also as committed in this latest work as with Balaanong Bahandi. Gibb and Mark were the real heroes of this book, working long hours well into the morning. Gibb worked on the design and layout the book. Of course, it helped that we had a printer, ClintKAMMS Corp., that accepted our work for printing with only 19 days left before the launching.
The good thing was that we were not charged any rush hour fees, something which would probably have happened with other printing companies (worse, we could have been turned down for giving them so little time). All in God’s time, as the Bible says. Of course, all these would have been nothing if not for our boss, the person who really commissioned this work, Fr. Agustin “Ting” Ancajas who almost literally moved heaven and earth to get this work out a day before the launching.
There are so many more people to thank but space no longer permits. And books have to be sold. I guess the best way to know if we’ve accomplished our task, reached our goal and showed the way of truth that His Eminence has chosen is for you to buy a copy, or better still buy a thousand copies of the book. Then you will help fund the Pope John Paul II Home for Retired Priests, one of the many legacies of the cardinal that you will find in the book.
Via Veritatis Book Jacket
By Jobers Bersales
Cebu Daily News
The life and ministry of Cebu’s second “Prince of the Church,” Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, was finally made known to the public last Tuesday in a grand celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of his elevation to the cardinalate. A short film and a 200-page coffee table book, “Via Veritatis: The Life and Ministry of Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal” were launched at the Waterfront Lahug amidst pomp and ceremony attended by the cardinal’s fellow bishops led by Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales of Manila, the papal nuncio Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams and Bishop Nereo Odchimar, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Via Veritatis, in English, “The Way of Truth,” is taken from the Cardinal’s Episcopal motto, “Viam Veritatis Elegi (I have chosen the way of Truth),” which succinctly captures the contents of the book commissioned by Fr. Agustin Ancajas, his erstwhile secretary, as well as the film by renowned television director Louie Ignacio. On pain of being accused of tooting my own horn, as it were, I would like the readers to allow me to share the experience I had in working on the book as its editor-in-chief and co-author.
Writing Via Veritatis was more than just a privilege. It is also a testament to cooperation, collaboration and commitment. When Fr. Ting Ancajas requested me late last year to write the biography of His Eminence, I immediately agreed. After all, we had just launched Balaanong Bahandi, the book which took only six months of research, writing and photography to produce.
Last Tuesday, I stood proud to say that we broke that record. We began the book with interviews of the cardinal in February this year. Despite his very hectic schedule, His Eminence graciously agreed to adjust his weekly rest day to accommodate four sessions spread in four weeks. And so the book is a product of just three months of intense cellphone calls, document and photo scanning, late night conferences, and sleeping at dawn to start the day four hours thereafter.
For this no mean feat, I wish to acknowledge the authors, therefore, the same ones I worked with in Balaanong Bahandi. My colleagues in the archdiocesan heritage commission, Louella “Loy” Alix and Trizer Dale Mansueto, were up to this challenge and did not fail us. The same is true for the principal photographers Mark Andrew Jorolan and Lorens Gibb Lapinid who were also as committed in this latest work as with Balaanong Bahandi. Gibb and Mark were the real heroes of this book, working long hours well into the morning. Gibb worked on the design and layout the book. Of course, it helped that we had a printer, ClintKAMMS Corp., that accepted our work for printing with only 19 days left before the launching.
The good thing was that we were not charged any rush hour fees, something which would probably have happened with other printing companies (worse, we could have been turned down for giving them so little time). All in God’s time, as the Bible says. Of course, all these would have been nothing if not for our boss, the person who really commissioned this work, Fr. Agustin “Ting” Ancajas who almost literally moved heaven and earth to get this work out a day before the launching.
There are so many more people to thank but space no longer permits. And books have to be sold. I guess the best way to know if we’ve accomplished our task, reached our goal and showed the way of truth that His Eminence has chosen is for you to buy a copy, or better still buy a thousand copies of the book. Then you will help fund the Pope John Paul II Home for Retired Priests, one of the many legacies of the cardinal that you will find in the book.