Pedrito dolls to inspire children to be saintly

Superheroes don't exist, but saints do, said the creators of Pedrito dolls—cute promotional toy versions of Pedro Calungsod, the Philippines' second saint. 

 

The Pedrito doll was created in the hopes that children would dream of becoming a saint instead of a superhero.

 

"There are no real superheroes, just like those comic books show, but everyone can be a saint," Eilleen Esteban, head of the new media team under the National Commission for the canonization of Pedro Calungsod, said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site. 

 

Following the canonization of Calungsod, the Pedrito dolls are envisioned to inspire children to live saintly lives.

 

The Pedrito doll was designed with black hair, round black eyes, a flat nose, and a pleasant expression. The doll is dressed in a simple white long-sleeved shirt and brown pants, with a black bag and a palm leaf, the symbol of Calungsod's martyrdom.

 

Esteban stressed that the dolls are not to be mistaken for religious images that can be venerated on altars.

 

The team explained that the doll will never be a substitute for the image of San Pedro Calungsod that is used in religious rites. "He is a personification, a memento of our newly canonized saint to make him embraceable and more reachable to the general public, most especially to the young people," they said.

 

According to Esteban, Pedrito is a new evangelization tool or a way of promoting St. Pedro “in a non-traditional way.”

 

"As the New Evangelization espouses, the transmission of faith nowadays should be in more creative forms and on medium more understandable and embraceable to the faithful," the team said on its official Facebook page.

 

The team encouraged those who purchase the doll to take their picture with it and post the picture with their "Pedrito moments" on Facebook. They are also encouraged to make the picture their profile picture. 

 

Esteban noted the website of St. Pedro Calungsod has been receiving requests for information as well as orders for the doll, which she said has generated high interest.

 

According to Esteban, the original purpose of the Pedrito doll was to aid the online geo-tagging scheme that would track the itinerary of Calungsod’s official image around Rome. This included the Triduum masses, the canonization, and its return to the Philippines for the Duaw Nasud or thanksgiving tour. —Carmela G. Lapeña/KG, GMA News