CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Vatican confirmed on Monday that Pope Benedict XVI has approved the canonization of Pedro Calungsod and six others for sainthood.
Calungsod, a native of Cebu, will become the country’s second saint, after St. Lorenzo Ruiz.
The Pope approved a series of decrees by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which include the decrees that testified to the authenticity of a miracle attributed to the intercession of Visayan lay catechist and martyr Pedro Calungsod, Italian priest Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Spanish religious Maria del Carmen, French Jesuit martyr Jacques Berthieu, German laywoman Anna Schaffer, American laywoman Kateri Tekakwitha, and Marianne Cope of the German religious of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse, New York.
The decrees testified on the authenticity of miracles attributed to prayers for intercession offered to them.
The Vatican, however, has not yet scheduled the date of the canonization.
The Archdiocese of Cebu will release its official statement in a press conference on Friday when Archbishop Jose Palma comes back from out-of-town engagements.
The Pope also approved the decrees for the certification of miracles of five Servants of Gods named Louis Brisson, French priest and founder of the Oblates of St. Francis of Sales; Luigi Novarese, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Silent Workers of the Cross; Maria Luisa (nee Gertrude Prosperi), Italian abbess of the convent of the Order of St. Benedict of Trevi; Mother St. Louis (nee Maria Luisa Elisabeth de Lamoignon, widow of Mole de Champlatreux), French foundress of the Sisters of St. Louis; and Maria Crescencia (nee Maria Angelica Perez), Argentinean professed religious of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Orchard.
They are now eligible for beatification.
A boy missionary
Calungsod was beatified by the late Pope John Paul II on March 5, 2000.
At the age of 17, he engaged in missionary work in Guam, where he was killed.
Calungsod was a companion of Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores to the Ladrones Islands, now known as Guam.
The natives resented the work of missionaries. Eventually, both of them were captured and killed by villagers for catechizing and baptizing the natives, including the child of one of their killers.
Miracles
Before a person is formally recognized as a saint, there must be an established proof of a miracle that occurred as a result of prayers offered to him for intercession.
Msgr. Esteban Binghay, Episcopal Vicar of the Archdiocese of Cebu who headed the investigation on Calungsod’s miracles eight years ago, said they found three events that paved the way for Calungsod’s canonization.
One of these is the case of a woman in her late 40’s who suffered from a severe heart ailment and had “very little hope of recovery.”
After suffering for years, she stopped taking medicine and instead prayed to Calungsod for intercession.
Binghay said that after praying for an intercession, she recovered quickly. He said one of her doctors, Dr. Manuel Lim, affirmed this. The woman is still alive up to now.
“We came through hard times gathering evidence on his miracles,” said Binghay. “We are very happy. This is an historic event for the church.”
Intercession for ‘Sendong’ victims
An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) asked the faithful to pray to Calungsod for intercession on behalf of the victims of tropical storm “Sendong,” that they may have strength.
“May his martyrdom for the faith inspire us Filipinos to serve others unconditionally,” said CBCP Media Office Director Pedro Quitorio III.
Around 1,000 people have reportedly died and many are still missing after flashfloods and mudslides swept Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities last week.
CBCP officials yesterday welcomed the news that Calungsod was among those to be canonized.
“This is a big welcome development in the Philippine Church because he would be an addition to St. Lorenzo Ruiz,” said Quitorio.
He said the announcement is timely because the Church had just concluded the year-long celebration of the Year of the Youth. – With Evelyn Macairan