The cardinal lay in state at the cathedral for the full week. Thousands of Filipinos waited in long queues for a chance to pay the cardinal their last respects and pray by his casket. Draped in a Philippine flag, Cardinal Sin’s casket moved slowly in a horse-drawn carriage covered with white flowers in the square outside the Manila Cathedral, followed by bishops and a military honor guard. Police estimated the funeral crowd at about 20,000, some packing the cathedral and others watching on giant TV screens.The cardinal was to be buried in the crypt of the cathedral, where other archbishops are also buried.
Cardinal Sin’s successor, Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, called the cardinal a “prophet” in his homily during the Sunday Mass at the Manila Cathedral.
Archbishop Julius Cardinal Darmaatmadja of Jakarta travelled to Manila Friday to pay Cardinal Sin his last respects as well. He said he admired the cardinal for playing an influential leadership role for all of Catholicism in Asia.
In his homily June 24, Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches said he remembered Cardinal Sin teaching him how to become “a priest for the poor.” Cardinal Sin would join him on his visits to poor communities and would show him how to relate to the people.
In an interview at the wake Friday, Sr. Vissia Angeles recalled the cardinal’s simplicity, joy and high regard for priests. She remembered him saying: “The priest is an engineer who constructs bridge from earth going to heaven, the priest is the bridge of a man from earth going to heaven, the priest is the lawyer who defends the sinner before God, the priest is a doctor who heals the wound of sins, the priest is also a farmer who plants the seed of a man and a priest is a teacher that teaches the way to heaven.”
Jaime Sin was born the 14th of 16 children. He earned a Bachelor of Science major in Education and as a bishop received 24 honorary doctoral degrees in 24 universities in three continents.