Hopes for second Filipino saint

Seventeenth-century teenager may become Philippines' second saint

Michael Diaz, Manila
Philippines
October 19, 2011
from UCANEWS.com


The Roman Catholic cardinals’ decision this week to approve a decree canonizing Blessed Pedro Calungsod means that a Filipino's elevation to sainthood becomes more imminent, a Church official said today.Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu said the cardinals had voted “unanimously in the affirmative” for Calungsod’s canonization.

Canonization for Calungsod, who was beatified in 2000, awaits a formal declaration by Pope Benedict XVI.  He said that after passing investigations made by doctors and theologians, the cause for canonization of Calungsod had also passed the review conducted by the cardinals.  “This means that Blessed Pedro Calungsod had already passed the third and final stage,” Palma said.  He said the declaration will now be submitted to the pontiff.

Another source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the Pope is expected to formally declare Calungsod a saint before December this year.  “I think that would also be the time that the Pope will announce the date of Blessed Calungsod’s canonization ceremony,” the source said.  The teenager from Cebu was martyred in Guam in 1672 with a Spanish Jesuit priest, now Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores.

Palma earlier said that the Offices of the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints told him that the documents on Calungsod are “number one” on the list.  Calungsod, if canonized, will be the first Visayan saint and second Filipino saint in history following San Lorenzo Ruiz who was canonized in Rome in 1988.