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The (2nd)Second Filipino Saint (San Pedro Calungsod)

The Catholic church of the Philippines celebrates another historical event as Pope Benedict XVI declared another Filipino Saint named Pedro Calungsod. (1)The canonization rites will begin with a Mass at Saint Peter’s Square witnessed by thousands of Filipino pilgrims as well as some of the country’s Catholic prelates led by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma, Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales, auxiliary bishops.

History
(2)In August 14, 1595 Pope Clement VIII was the one responsible for the creation of Cebu diocese as a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Manila. (3) It also included the Ladrones Islands (Mariana Islands), now called Guam. 

The Life of Pedro
Pedro Calungsod was born around 1600, no records found about his birth and baptism since the records that time have been destroyed by typhoons, fires or by any means. The only information about him are found in the documents on the martyrdom of Padre Diego Luis San Vitores a Jesuit Missionary. August 7, 1667 he departed from the Philippines to Ladrones Island (now Guam) together with Padre Diego and arrived around 1668, and began preaching the local community (Chamorro) and built the first church in (4)HagÃ¥tña [Agadña; Agaña; Agana] and renamed Marianas by the missionaries in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the then queen regent of Spain, Maria Ana.
Later on a named Choco who said to be Chinese, become envious of the missionaries and began talking to  the community some lies about the baptismal water that used by the missionaries are poisonous, coincidentally the infants in that community died after being baptized, the rumors of Choco was supported by a herbal medicine practitioner and the young native men, and began to persecute the missionaries. 
In April 12, 1672 Pedro Calungsod and Fr. Pedro Dieogo  (4)came to the village of Tomhom [Tumhon; Tumon], in Guam. There, they were told that a baby girl was recently born in the village; so they went to ask the child’s father, named Matapang, to bring out the infant for baptism. Matapang was a Christian and a friend of the missionaries, but having apostatized, he angrily refused to have his baby christened. Matapang went away and tried to enlist in his cause another villager, named Hirao, who was not a Christian. At first, Hirao refused, mindful of the kindness of the missionaries towards the natives; but, when Matapang branded him a coward, he got piqued and so he consented. Meanwhile, during that brief absence of Matapang from his hut, Padre Diego and Pedro took the chance of baptizing the infant with the consent of the Christian mother. When Matapang learned of the baptism, he became even more furious. He violently hurled spears first at Pedro.  Witnesses said that Pedro had all the chances to escape because he was very agile, but he did not want to leave Padre Diego alone. Finally, Pedro got hit by a spear in the chest and  fell to the ground, Hirao immediately charged towards him and finished him off with a blow of a cutlass to the head. Padre Diego could not do anything except to raise a crucifix and give Pedro the final sacramental absolution. After that, the assassins killed Padre Diego. (3)Matapang took the crucifix of Padre Diego and crushed it with a stone while blaspheming God. Then, both assassins ripped the clothes off Pedro and Padre Diego. They  dragged them to the shore, tied large stones to their feet. They brought their bodies out to sea on a proa and threw them into the deep. The remains of the martyrs were never to be found.

Journey to Sainthood
In  October 6,1985  Fr. Diego Luis de San Vitores was the  beatified; and that was the rediscovery of Pedro Calungsod, who appeared in the documents of his martyrdom. November of 1994 the opening of  Process for the Cause for the Beatification of Pedro Calungsod in the Archdiocese of Cebu, and concluded on December of the same year. This serves as the 1st step to the journey of Pedro Calungsod's canonization.

June of 1998, Cardinal Ricardo Vidal (Bishop of Cebu), Submitted the Historical Documents to the Vatican. In January of 2000 Pope John Paul II promulgated the Decree on the Martyrdom of Pedro Calungsod, and by March of that year Pedro was beatified.

March of 2003, a woman who was pronounced clinically dead by accredited physicians two hours after a heart attack, was revived when her doctor prayed for her through Pedro Calungsod's intercession, and in December 19, 2011, The Holy See officially approved the miracle qualifying Blessed Pedro Calungsod for sainthood. February 18, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI announced that Blessed Calungsod together with the other six would be canonized this October 21,  2012 at
St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Reference sites:
(1) http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/378032/second-filipino-saint
(2) http://www.cebu-bluewaters.com/cebu-history.html
(3) http://www.pedrocalungsod.net/life-of-a-martyr.html
(4) http://www.pedrocalungsod.org/index.php/life/56




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2 Comments

RED said…
I was hoping you'd write a post for Saint Pedro Calungsod in this blog. Thank you.