Blessed Pedro's first home

The latest reports regarding the Blessed Pedro Calungsod, who is expected to be canonized officially as a saint this coming October, is that more and more people are starting to venerate the Visayan martyr.

That is very good for Blessed Pedro, as well as for the Roman Catholic Church. As a soon-to-be new saint, Blessed Pedro needs to build his own following of devotees from among the millions of the faithful who have hundreds of saints to choose from as their patrons.

Besides, there is a belief that new saints are quick to perform miracles. And while there may be no real basis for the belief, it is there for anyone who cares. And miracle or not, that is not the main reason for faith but faith itself.

There is, however, an element of human nature at work in the surge of adherents for the Blessed Pedro Calungsod. And that is that people are now drawn to him because he is about to be declared a saint.

Before the announcement that the bid for his canonization was approved, only very few people kept the faith in Blessed Pedro. And the best proof that devotion came only in trickles is the state of construction of the very first church dedicated in his honor.

The very first church in the Philippines dedicated in his honor is in Cantabaco, Toledo City. It is the Blessed Pedro Calungsod Parish Church. Started 12 years ago shortly after his beatification, the church is still far from complete.

The very first church in the Philippines dedicated to Blessed Pedro Calungsod became possible only through the benevolence of architect Servillano and Josephine Mapeso, owners of the Springpark Mountain Resort right next door.

Springpark sits on a vast tract of land, and from that sprawling property, the couple carved out a one-hectare lot and donated it to the Archdiocese of Cebu for use as site to the Blessed Pedro Calungsod Parish Church.

Aside from donating the land, architect Mapeso also donated his services to draw up the church design, as well as the layout for the church grounds. But apparently the archdiocese could not provide the money to build the church. So the Mapeso couple, assisted by their children both here and abroad, a few initial donors, and a couple of fund-raisers involving the Quota Club International of Metro Cebu, started the audacious task of building the church piece by agonizing piece.

It had been a long way coming for Blessed Pedro and the first church to his name in Cantabaco.

 From a few concrete posts and steel bars, construction began and proceeded on and off — on when some money came in, off when the cool mountain air started whistling in the barrel.

But the Mapeso couple never gave up. When they can spare their own money, work would proceed. And the parishioners never abandoned the faith. Donations, though few and far between, reminded everyone they had gone this way too far to give up. And so the church slowly took shape. And after 12 years it now has a roof and walls to shelter and secure the parishioners. The floor now has tiles and pews have finally replaced the monobloc plastic chairs.

 Still Blessed Pedro’s first home is only about 70 percent complete. More still needs to be done. Hopefully, with the increasing adherence brought about by the impending canonization, the heightened fervor will translate into commitments to help finish the church.