accepted it. In the same year also, Cardinal Rosales invited Pope Benedict XVI to visit the Philippines, being the third largest Catholic nation in the world; however, the Pope declined due to heavy schedule. On October 13, 2011, two months after his 79th birthday, Pope Benedict XVI finally accepted his resignation and appointed the then Bishop of Imus, Luis Antonio Tagle, as his successor. On August 10, 2012, along with the celebration of his 80th birthday, he lost his eligibility to vote on any future conclaves and thus, did not participate in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. Views Government Archbishop Rosales expressed support for charter change but condemned politicians pushing their personal agenda in amending the constitution. When the state of national emergency was proclaimed, he would ask Filipinos to pray for peace and unity in the country and expressed hopes that the government will not abuse and curtail the rights of the people. National Statistics Office In 2007, Cardinal Rosales argued against the National Statistics Office (NSO) requirement that all solemnizing officers/priests undergo training before conducting wedding ceremonies. He said: "We understand the concern of the National Statistics Office (NSO) because we also know of abuses done by the so-called ministers of the Gospel (not priests), but they should not be like that to us, as if we know nothing." Gay parades In 2008, Rosales clashed with Ang Ladlad founder Danton Remoto on the subject of allowing gays to participate, in drag, in the Flores de Mayo celebration. Rosales threatened parishes that permit cross-dressing homosexuals to play Saint Helena or female saints in the Santacruzan or Flores de Mayo procession with official punishment and removal from Mass. Implementing Summorum Pontificum The guidelines that Rosales wrote for implementing the 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum were reported to have been criticized by Darío Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, as too restrictive. Rosales denied that he had forbidden use of the "Traditional Latin Mass" in his archdiocese, saying he had only opposed celebration by priests of the dissident Society of St. Pius X. Abortion On September 16, 2010, Cardinal Rosales issued a pastoral letter expressing the Catholic Church’s condemnation of abortion and recalling the excommunication imposed by the Church on those who procure it or help others to do so. "A deliberately procured abortion is a moral evil and the Catholic Church attaches the canonical penalty of