| Second Filipino saint canonized Oct. 21 - Pedro Calungsod Posting Date: 10-23-2012 |
Pedro Calungsod is the second Filipino declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, after Saint Lorenzo Ruiz. Pope Benedict XVI set the date for his canonization on Oct. 21, 2012 (World Mission Sunday), 340 years after Calungsod’s death. He was beatified on March 5, 2000 by Blessed Pope John Paul II.
Calungsod (c. 1655 – 2 April 1672, Cebu, Philippines) was a young Roman Catholic Filipino migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist, who along with Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores, suffered religious persecution, and martyrdom in 1672, on Guam.
Calungsod was already helping in local Jesuit catechesis as a young teen. It is probable that he received basic education at a Jesuit boarding school, mastering the Catechism and learning to communicate in Spanish.
He was among young catechists chosen to accompany the Jesuits in their mission to the Mariana Islands. Calungsod and San Vitores went to Guam to catechize native Chamorros.
According to Mabel Hoffman of the Diocesan Council of Filipino Catholics (DCFC), Calungsod was slain by a native chieftain, Matapang, once a Christian, because the Jesuit mission superior had been baptizing native babies. He had christened Matapang’s own baby daughter.
On Nov. 10, a Thanksgiving Mass for Pedro Calungsod’s canonization will be held at St. Lucy Parish, 2350 Winchester Blvd, Campbell, 11 am, followed by a reception, sponsored by the DCFC.
For more information, contact: Ms. Lou (408) 439-9414; Ms. Poi (408) 729-7228; Ms. Carol (408) 921-0091.
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