Cardinal Jaime Sin and the mark left behind by ‘the greatest Sin of all’


“It takes a village to raise a child,” the old proverb goes and in Santa Ana, Manila, it took a Cardinal to build the village.

The Jaime Cardinal Sin Village (JCSV) is a social housing project named after the late Archbishop of Manila, who led the archdiocese from 1974 to 2003. 

While Cardinal Sin is best remembered for his pivotal role in the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, his legacy extends far beyond EDSA, reaching deep into Punta—a neighborhood nestled in the southeastern district of Santa Ana.

Built on an industrial plot previously owned by a private oil firm, the village stands today as a self-sustaining community complete with residential housing, educational facilities, and a Catholic church: the Parokya ng Ina ng Laging Saklolo.

According to Father Marion Mark Munda, Director of the Jaime Cardinal Sin Learning Center inside the complex, the development was a deeply personal initiative for the late prelate.

“He gave away everything he had before he died,” Father Mark said in an interview with Paraluman News on August 30, 2026—a day before what would have been Cardinal Sin’s 98th birth anniversary.

Born in New Washington, Aklan, Jaime Lachica Sin served as Bishop of Jaro from 1967 to 1974 before becoming Archbishop of Manila. He was elevated to Cardinal in 1976, during the height of Martial Law.

Cardinal Sin was widely known for his warmth, quick wit, and a self-deprecating humor that leaned into his unique surname. He famously welcomed guests to the Archbishop’s Palace with a grin, saying, “Welcome to the house of Sin,” and would often joke that “the greatest sin of all is Cardinal Sin.”

Yet beneath the humor was a shepherd of extraordinary courage and faith. He spoke out forcefully against human rights abuses, but rooted every stand he took in deep prayer. Archbishop Socrates “Soc” Villegas, who served as the Cardinal’s personal secretary, once recalled his mentor’s advice: “When you are busy, pray for one hour. When you are very busy, pray for two hours.”

Building the Village

Construction on the Jaime Cardinal Sin Village began in April 2004, little over a year before the prelate passed away from renal failure on June 21, 2005.

Among the last priests by his side were Bishop Soc, Father Mark, and Bishop Jun Sescon—Father Mark’s batchmate at San Carlos Seminary who also served as personal secretary to the Cardinal. 

Though the Cardinal’s health was failing, his death felt sudden to those around him. Just days before he passed, he made it a point to visit the village.

Father Mark, who served as the Parish Priest of Parokya ng Ina ng Laging Saklolo at the time, recalled that only Phase 1 and the church structure existed back then.

 Today, the village spans four phases of multi-story residential buildings providing homes for hundreds of former informal settler families.

During that final visit in 2005, the Cardinal was inspecting the site when a cloth-covered structure on the roof caught his eye.

“When he saw it, the Cardinal asked me, ‘What's on the roof?’ and I said, ‘Eminence, that's your statue,’” Father Mark recalled.

“He got angry. He said, ‘Why do I have that? Hindi na kailangan 'yan (That’s not needed).’”

Father Mark quickly explained that Bishop Soc had commissioned the piece from National Artist Napoleon Abueva, the “Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture.”

“I removed the cover, and he looked at it and smiled,” Father Mark said. “Then he said, ‘I’ll leave.’ He went, and that was the last conversation we ever had.”

The Cardinal passed away before the project’s full completion. What began as a modest parish preschool evolved into the Jaime Cardinal Sin Learning Center, which now serves over 1,000 students from preschool to high school. 

The parish church itself—originally built as a modest chapel in 1975—was completely rebuilt during the village project. The new structure was finished a year after the Cardinal’s death, with solemn dedication rites held on his birth anniversary: August 31, 2006, exactly 20 years ago.

A Pastor and a Father

When asked what he remembers most about Cardinal Sin, Father Mark points without hesitation to his faith and prayerfulness. Everything the Cardinal accomplished, he emphasizes, was born out of prayer.

Father Mark recalled his time as a first-year high school seminarian at San Carlos Seminary during the 1986 EDSA Revolution. Classes were suspended, and the seminarians were asked to do one primary thing: pray the Rosary. 

To witness the tense, high-stakes standoff end peacefully and joyfully affirmed for him the reality of miracles and the power of prayer.

If he had the chance to speak to the Cardinal one last time, Father Mark says his message would be simple: “Wala, thank you. Thank you talaga.” (Nothing else, just thank you. Thank you, truly.)

He remains profoundly grateful for a shepherd who cared for his clergy like a true father. Even when gravely ill, Cardinal Sin made time to visit his priests in their parishes.

For Father Mark and his generation of Filipino priests, the Cardinal's legacy endures—not just in the bricks and mortar of the village that bears his name, but in the enduring memory of a true pastor, prophet, and father.

-Veronica Velarde-Pulumbarit/Paraluman News