Pinoys, priests in Rome welcome official statue of Blessed Pedro Calungsod 

Filipino priests and pilgrims in Rome warmly applauded the arrival on Wednesday of the official statue of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, who will be canonized on October 21. According to a report of GMA reporter Jiggy Manicad over radio dzBB, applause greeted the image as it was unwrapped at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, the official residence of  Filipino secular diocesan priests studying in Rome.

 

Leading about 100 pilgrims, retired Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal kissed the image of Calungsod and brought it to the chapel of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, also called the “Home in Rome” of Filipino priests. The radio dzBB report said some 4,000 Filipino pilgrims are already in Rome to witness the canonization rites at the Vatican on Sunday. Many Filipinos residing in Italy are also expected to attend the canonization of Calungsod. Based on the 2010 Stock Estimate of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas,  there are some 123,379 Filipinos in Italy. Calungsod will become the Philippines' second saint after Saint Lorenzo Ruiz. The 17-year-old Calungsod was doing missionary work in Guam when he was killed in 1672. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on March 5, 2000. Philippine Vice-President and other Catholic officials earlier expressed their hope that Calungsod would be named a patron saint of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Enthusiastic sendoff

Due to the sudden interest in the soon-to-be-saint in Italy, Philippine flaglets and souvenir items of Blessed Pedro Calungsod are selling briskly in Rome in the run-up to his canonization this Sunday. - VVP, GMA News