Church asks Aquino to lead PHL delegation to Vatican for Calungsod's canonization 

Catholic Church officials on Wednesday formally asked President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to lead the Philippine delegation to the Vatican in October this year for the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, the second Filipino to be declared a saint. Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Jose Palma and retired Cebu Archbishop Cardinal Ricardo Vidal led church officials in their luncheon meeting with Aquino at the Casa Roces Restaurant in Manila.

Aside from inviting Aquino to the canonization of Calungsod on October 21, Vidal said they also asked the President to attend the national Thanksgiving Mass that would follow in Cebu in November.

 

Vidal said church officials understand that it may be difficult for the President to go to the Vatican for Calungsod's canonization but they are hoping that Aquino would at least attend the event in Cebu. Vidal said Aquino promised to do his best to attend both events, adding that "it would be the joy of the whole nation if he could be present in Rome and also for the national thanksgiving in Cebu.”  Vidal said Aquino promised to do his best to attend not only the event in Cebu but Calungsod's canonization at the Vatican. Vidal said "it would be the joy of the whole nation if he could be present in Rome and also for the national thanksgiving in Cebu.” 

 

According to Vidal, Aquino also pledged some government support for the activities leading to the canonization but did not go into details.

 

“Whatever support, we said, you could give, we would also appreciate that (but) he did not go to the details of the support," Vidal said. "Para sa amin 'yung presence, iyon siguro pinaka-importante.”  Not showing partiality

 

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, also on Wednesday, clarified that Aquino was not showing partiality to the Catholic Church when he agreed to attend the Thanksgiving Mass in Cebu in November. Aquino did not attend the Bible Exposition organized by the Iglesia ni Cristo on Tuesday. Lacierda explained that Aquino already has commitments abroad around the time of Calungsod's canonization in October. For now, Lacierda said the President is only certain of attending the national event for Calungsod in Cebu. "It’s pretty hard to fix the schedule. We already have a schedule for the visits of the President abroad. So more or less that was set already or agreed upon, so he will have to look into it,” Lacierda said. Lacierda said Calungsod's canonization is "significant for the Catholic Church and also for the Philippines because we will have a second Filipino saint." Responsible Parenthood bill Meanwhile, Lacierda said he was not sure if other issues, such as the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona or the Responsible Parenthood (RP) bill, were discussed by Aquino and the Church officials. Aquino is at odds with Catholic Church officials for espousing the RP bill, the Palace's version of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, which the Church is opposing. The RP and RH bills promote both artificial and natural methods of family planning. The Church accepts only natural family planning methods.

 

Blessed Pedro Calungsod

 

Calungsod will be the second Filipino to be canonized in the history of the Catholic Church after Pope John Paul II canonized Saint Lorenzo Ruiz in 1987. Calungsod (1654 – April 2, 1672) was a young Filipino migrant, sacristan, and missionary catechist. Along with Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores, Calungsod suffered religious persecution and martyrdom in Guam in 1672 for their missionary work.  - RJMD/VVP, GMA News