Pope to canonize Calungsod as 2nd Pinoy saint; VP Binay to lead Philippine contingent in Rome

PASAY CITY – Vice President Jejomar C. Binay will lead the Philippine contingent to the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod on Oct. 21 at the Vatican City in Rome.
The Vice President will represent President Benigno S. Aquino III and witness Pope Benedict XVI install the country’s second saint.
The first Filipino saint, Lorenzo Ruiz, was canonized on Oct. 18, 1987.
“It is an honor to lead my fellow Filipino Catholics in witnessing this historic event. Blessed Pedro Calungsod’s life was one of service and I pray that his dedication and sacrifice will inspire the Filipino youth to live their lives in service of their fellowmen,” he said.
“I join the people of Cebu and the entire nation in this most joyous occasion and pray that the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod will further strengthen our faith in the Almighty and our unity as a people,” he added.
Calungsod was a teenage Cebuano catechist who accompanied Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores in Tumhon village in Guan, Marianas, where they were killed on April 2, 1672.
He was beatified in March 2000 by Blessed Pope John Paul II.
The canonization rites for Blessed Calungsod and six others will begin with a holy mass at Saint Peter’s Square. Vespers and a procession of the new saints’ icons will be held at the Chiesa di Santa Pudenziana later in the evening.
According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), over a thousand Filipinos will fly to the Vatican to witness the canonization rites.
After the canonization, Binay, who is also the Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers’ Concerns, will meet members of the Filipino community in Italy at the Pontifico Collegio Filippino.
“In all my trips abroad, I always make it a point to meet with our kababayans to personally hear from them their concerns and to assure them that our government is always looking after their welfare,” he said.
The Vice President will also attend the thanksgiving mass to be celebrated on Oct. 22, the day after the canonization at 8 a.m. at the apse of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Celebrations will also be held in Cebu after the canonization, with the Cebu Archdiocese expecting more than a million pilgrims to attend.
Processions in all parishes of Cebu City and a fluvial procession of Calungsod’s statue along the Mactan Channel are being set, along with a film festival similar the Sto. Niño de Cebu film festival during the Sinulog.
The town of Ginatilan in Cebu, the hometown of Calungsod, has also created a committee to trace the Calungsod family tree.
The President earlier issued Proclamation No. 481, declaring Oct. 21 as a national day of celebration on the canonization of Calungsod.
Meanwhile, before going to Rome, the Vice President will be attending the 2012 European Development Days (EDD) in Brussels, Belgium on Oct. 16-17.
Organized by the European Commission, the EDD is Europe’s premier forum on international affairs and development cooperation.
The Vice President is also set to meet H.E. Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, President of the European Commission, for a bilateral discussion of common interests between the Philippines and Europe.
Among key points that Vice President Binay is expected to discuss with Barroso is the recently signed framework agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the creation of the Bangsamoro entity that will replace the current Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
Morevover, Binay will meet with Siim Kallas, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner of Transport, to discuss the European Union (EU) ban on Philippine carriers and report measures that the government has undertaken to improve the state of the Philippine aviation industry.
The Vice President is also expected to raise the Philippine’s compliance to the Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-Keeping for Seafarers (SCTW Convention).
At least 5,000 Filipino pilgrims, many of them from Cebu and other Cebuano-speaking provinces, are attending the canonization rites of Blessed Pedro Calungsod at the Vatican on Oct. 21.
The pilgrims include some 200 cardinals, archbishops, bishops and other priests.
”This is a once in a lifetime experience,” one of the pilgrims said.
Calungsod is only the second Filipino, and the first from the Cebuano-speaking region, to be declared a saint by the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome.
The first was San Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila.
Thousands of Cebuanos are also expected to turn up along the procession and motorcade route for the send off of the image of Blessed Pedro Calungsod for Rome, Italy on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
The send-off activities are part of the final stretch of preparations for the canonization of the second Filipino saint at the St. Peter’s Basilica.
The image’s journey out of Cebu would symbolize one of many taken by the teenage catechist who was killed for his faith in the Marianas Islands in the 17th century, said Duaw Lungsod Chairman Msgr. Marnell Mejia.
”The Calungsod saga is marked with voyages,” he said, referring to the journey of Calungsod aboard the galleon called San Diego, from Cavite to the Ladrones Islands, now known as Marianas Islands, where he was killed with Jesuit missionary Blessed Diego Luis de Sanvitores on April 2, 1672.
The voyage of Calungsod’s image on Tuesday will be more comfortable, since his image would be a passenger of a Cathay Pacific flight that will leave Cebu around noon.
Fr. Charles Jayme, the official custodian of the three-foot tall pilgrim image, will take the same flight, where they will be treated as VIPs.
The image will be enclosed in a red case lined with polystyrene and a white satin cloth. The case has handles for ease of transport.
Grace Ho, Cathay Pacific manager, said the container will be placed on the floor of a window seat and secured with a seatbelt.
She said the organizers complied with certain safety requirements, including the size and weight of the package.
The send-off procession on Tuesday will start at 4:30 a.m. from the Archdiocesan Shrine of Blessed Pedro Calungsod to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, where a mass will be celebrated by Msgr. Roberto Alesna at 5:30 a.m.
”This is the last farewell to Blessed Pedro. When he returns, he would already be San Pedro Calungsod,” he said.