www.soriano-ph.com

While shopping for some souvenir items at a Catholic store in Vatican City last May, a priest in black vest greeted me with a very warm smile and asked me: “Are you a Filipino?”.  After some exchange of pleasantries, I cannot help but ask him to pose for a souvenir photo because instantly I felt the presence of a great man.

It was only when I came back to the Philippines that I learned from the news that this unassuming Dominican priest by the name of Regino O. Cortes is a bibilical expert. At the height of the public debate over a film “The Da Vinci Code” based on Dan Brown’s novel of the same title, Fr. Cortes led in the defense of the Catholic faith and published his book entitled: “The Da Vinci Code: An Exegetical Review“,

The obituary of major newspapers today, August 29, 2006, announced that Rev. Fr. Regino O. Cortes, O.P., a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and Regent of the College of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Santo Tomas, peacefully joined his Creator on August 28, 2006.

The world has once again just lost a very good man of great faith. Our loss though of his earthly presence is surely heaven’s gain.

That few minutes of my meeting with Fr. Cortes will always linger in my mind.