Manila: Church bells rang out and fireworks lit up the sky as the Philippines marked the elevation to sainthood of Pedro Calungsod, a young missionary killed more than 340 years ago.
The now Saint Calungsod, a missionary’s assistant who was martyred at the age of 18 by South Pacific islanders in what is now known as Guam and the Marianas Islands, was canonised around 3.30pm local time in ceremonies held at the Saint Peter’s Square in The Vatican.
President Benigno Aquino declared Sunday a national day of celebration in Asia’s bastion of Catholicism and sent his vice president, Jejomar Binay, to lead a big congregation in the Vatican.
Thousands of people from the capital Manila congregated at the Sto. Nino de Tondo parish to watch the ceremonies naming Calungsod as one of seven new saints in the Catholic faith.
In a statement published by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), it was reported that the last mass prior to the canonisation of Calungsod drew the biggest crowd, with an estimated 2,500 people packing the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. The participants had come from as far away as Guam and several European countries.
Since the start of the Triduum masses for Saint Calungsod last October 18, pilgrims have been flying in from all over the world to attend the masses, beginning with the Sant Agostino and the Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesù, popularly known as the Church of the Gesu.
Events in Rome and the Vatican were held simultaneously with festivities in Metro Manila, Cebu, Bohol and other parishes and diocese across the country.
Calungsod was the second saint of Filipino origin to be canonised at the Vatican. The first was Lorenzo Ruiz, a missionary martyred in feudal Japan during the years when the Philippine Islands was still under Spanish colonial administration in the 1600s.
Calungsod had worked with Spanish Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores to educate natives of what is now known as Guam and the Marianas Islands.
The duo’s missionary work ended in 1672 with their deaths at the hands of a local tribal chief Matapang, who opposed the conversion of natives. Calungsod, according to historical accounts, was only 18 when he was killed.
With Calungsod’s martyrdom, Vice President Jejomar Binay said heroism “could serve as a great inspiration to millions of our migrant Filipinos who face daily challenges in their places of work abroad.”
