ASIA: PHILIPPINES: TEENAGER PEDRO CALUNGSOD MAY BECOME 2ND SAINT

UCAN REPORT: Seventeenth-century teenager may become Philippines' second saint
Michael Diaz, Manila
Philippines
October 19, 2011
Catholic Church News Image of Hopes for second Filipino saint
Blessed Pedro Calungsod

A cardinals’ decision this week to approve a decree for the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod means his elevation to the sainthood is imminent, a Church official said today.

Calungsod, who was beatified in 2000, is just waiting formal declaration by Pope Benedict XVI.

Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu said the cardinals had voted “unanimously in the affirmative” for Calungsod’s canonization.

He said that after passing investigations made by doctors and theologians, the cause for canonization of Calungsod had also passed the review conducted by the cardinals.

“This means that Blessed Pedro Calungsod has already passed the third and final stage,” Palma said.

He said the declaration will now be submitted to the pontiff.

Another source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it is expected the Pope would formally declare Calungsod a saint before by December.

“I think that would also be the time that the Pope will announce the date of Blessed Calungsod’s canonization ceremony,” the source said.

The teenager from Cebu was martyred in Guam in 1672 with a Spanish Jesuit priest, now Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores.

Palma earlier said the Offices of the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints told him the documents on Calungsod are “number one” on the list.

Calungsod, if canonized, will be the first Visayan saint and second Filipino saint in history following San Lorenzo Ruiz who was canonized in Rome in 1988.

http://www.ucanews.com/2011/10/19/hopes-for-second-filipino-saint/

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