Calungsod image to be given to Pope as a gift

An image of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, who will be canonized on October 21 as the second Filipino saint, will be given to Pope Benedict XVI as a gift.

 

Henrietta de Villa, secretary general of the National Commission on the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, said this will be the second Calungsod statue to be given to the Vatican.

 

The first statue was given to the late Pope John Paul II when he beatified Calungsod in 2000, said De Villa, who was the former ambassador to the Vatican at that time.

 

She said the statue to be given to Pope Benedict is one of three images that will be brought to the Vatican. One statue will be left at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, the residence of Filipino secular diocesan priests studying in Rome. The third statue will be brought back to the Philippines for the “Duaw Nasud” or the national pilgrimage of thanksgiving. The image is expected to arrive in the country on October 25.

 

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) earlier presented to the media a Calungsod statue measuring two-feet tall. The statue shows Calungsod holding a huge palm leaf and the Book of Christian Doctrines.

 

The image also shows Calungsod's right foot positioned ahead of the other.

 

“This was (retired) Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal’s idea and some priests (that) Pedro Calungsod should be presented as somebody who is dynamic... He is on the move because he is a missionary,” Fr. Marvin Mejia, CBCP assistant secretary general said. 5,000 pilgrims

 

Meanwhile, thousands of Filipinos are expected to be in Rome to witness the canonization of Calungsod on October 21.

 

An article on the CBCP website said some 5,000 pilgrims from the Philippines, aside from Filipinos from other countries, are expected to take part in the historic event.

 

Mejia said some 100,000 Filipinos are residing in Italy  and many of them are expected to witness the canonization too.

 

Around 30 Filipino cardinals and bishops, led by Archbishops Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, and CBCP president Jose Palma, are also expected to attend the event.

 

Some Philippine government officials, including Vice President Jejomar Binay, are also attending Calungsod's canonization. - VVP, GMA News