The church that rose from faith

CEBU, Philippines - Blessings keep pouring in for the couple whose faith and generosity made possible the rising of the first church dedicated to Visayan Martyr and soon to be canonized Blessed Pedro Calungsod.

The Blessed Pedro Calungsod Parish in Barangay Cantabaco, Toledo City, celebrated its sixth founding anniversary yesterday since the parish was established in Mar, 5, 2006. Yesterday was also the twelfth anniversary of his beatification.

The church, still half-complete, started only as a nipa hut in 2005 until it gradually improved into a concrete structure through the efforts of couple Servillano and Josephine Mapeso and several other benefactors that include mostly the residents of the barangay.

The lot where the Blessed Pedro Calungsod Parish now stands was donated by the Mapeso family to the Archdiocese of Cebu through a deed of donation signed by former Cebu archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and the Mapeso couple in November 17, 2003.

Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Russel Sungcad said the church still has a long way to go especially on the roofing, ceiling, electrical wiring, the parking area, the rectory, the belfry and the landscaping.

“After the canonization of our Blessed Pedro Calungsod in Rome, all celebration will be focused here. We hope that by November or December, our Archbishop can do the consecration of our beloved Parish,” Sungcad said.

“The existence of this church is another miracle from Blessed Calungsod because it has come into this state even with only meager resources and budget,” Sungcad said.

The Blessed Pedro Calungsod Parish has now organized 16 communities and supervised 32 chapels. It covers five surrounding barangays. Sungcad recalled how the people have helped one another to gradually improve the structure. The structure is designed by Architect Servillano Mapeso, the donor of the lot.

The Mapeso family donated one hectare of their 13-hectare property in Cantabaco, Toledo City to the Archdiocese of Cebu when Msgr. Gerardo Jumao-as and Fr. Michael Hisoler came to them looking for a lot where to possibly build a house of God.

The priests offered to buy the one-hectare lot which was valued at over P1 million at the time.

But the family decided to just donate it to spare the church from raising P1 million to buy the property.

Architect Mapeso said that he donated the lot to the Archdiocese on the condition that the church that will be made a parish.

“I specifically requested that we become a parish so we would have a sort of independence especially in building the structure,” Mapeso said.

Their barangay badly needed a church at the time because the closest parish is in Lutopan. The priest decided to dedicate the church to Blessed Pedro Calungsod since there was no parish yet for Blessed Pedro Calungsod in the country.

Mapeso designed the structure in a way that parishioners will be able to see the beautiful sceneries of Toledo in all directions. The church overlooks the mountains of Toledo.

The construction of Blessed Pedro Calungsod Parish started in June 2005. The Mapeso family had to take money out of their own pockets to start the construction as all of them were hopeful and eager to have a church soon. Mapeso said the structure still needs about P2 million to P3 million more to be completed.

Sadly, he said, it is unlikely to be completed before the canonization of Calungsod on October 21 this year but he said it will be finished in one or two years.

He said he, more than anybody else, wants the church to be completed immediately as he is not getting any younger. Mapeso is now 80 years old.

“That is why we are hoping for donations. We hope to complete our church the soonest possible time now that Blessed Pedro will soon become a Saint,” Mapeso said.

Msgr. Ildebrando Leyson, postulator for Calungsod, who yesterday gave a brief update on the canonization of Calungsod to the residents, said he hopes that the awaited completion of the church will soon end as Calungsod’s journey to sainthood is also about to end.

Leyson said that the construction of the Blessed Pedro Calungsod Parish by the Cantabaco residents is no different to what Calungsod did when he was sent to Guam on a mission.

He said that the team of missionaries sent to Guam also built chapels in different parts of the country to encourage people to attend Mass more often.

He told the parishioners to prepare spiritually to receive the shower of blessings to come once Calungsod is canonized. Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, in his homily, also told the parishioners to live the life that Calungsod has lived. Palma said that Calungsod has become a witness of God’s love by becoming a martyr where he died for spreading the ways and words of God.

The archbishop said that the residents do not have to shed blood to become witnesses of God but they can show their faith through living a Christ-like life. (FREEMAN)