Blessed Pedro Calungsod soon be the 2nd Pinoy saint on October 21

Blessed Pedro Calungsod as depicted by Rafael Casal in 2000. (Photo courtesy by Wikipedia)

Will the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod will bring more blessings to the Philippines? The universal Church here, hopes so.

The Vatican had already announced that the young Blessed Pedro Calungsod would be a saint soon. The canonization of the Cebuano teenage martyr was schedule on October 21, says the Vatican TV on February 18, 2012. Amid the political and economic uncertainties, Bl. Pedro Calungsod would be enlisted at the roster of the venerated saints of the universal Church, and would be the second Pinoy saint, after San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, who was canonized on October 18, 1987 by no less than Blessed John Paul II himself. In a statement, Archbishop Jose Palma of the Diocese of Cebu and currently, the president of the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference in the Philippines, Blessed Pedro Calungsod’s proclamation as a saint is a blessing for the whole nation.

But the canonization of Bl. Pedro Calungsod, who would eventually called St. Pedro of Cebu or San Pedro de Cebú upon his proclamation to sainthood is not only a source of pride for Filipinos, but also poses a challenge for the lay faithful to answer the Lord’s call to holiness. Malolos Bishop José Oliveros said that the youth of today can now look upon Bl. Pedro Calungssod and make him a source of inspiration to purse the life of holiness.

“He was able to share his faith with others. And he was also young, an inspiration for the youth of today,” Oliveros said, as quoted in the CBCP New website. Blessed Pedro Calungsod was a native of Cebu (Sugbu) and was martyred in the island of Guam, now part of the colony of the United States in 1672, together with the Jesuit priest, Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores of Spain. He was beatified also by Blessed John Paul II in the year 2000.