Calungsod image comes home, brought to UST

The statue of new Filipino saint Pedro Calungsod arrived home Thursday afternoon, a week after it was flown to Rome for the martyr's canonization.

 

Catholic Church officials led the welcome for the image, which arrived as a "passenger" on a Cathay Pacific flight, radio dzBB's Nimfa Ravelo reported.

 

Former Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See Henrietta de Villa, who was among those who welcomed the statue, said Filipinos should keep Calungsod's legacy alive by practicing the faith he died to protect.

 

She also said that the warm welcome for the new saint's statue should not end Filipinos' honoring of Calungsod's legacy.

 

The image was then brought to the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.

 

A tweet by the UST Student Council said Calungsod's venerated image arrived at UST past 7 p.m.

 

It added a send-off Mass for Saint Pedro Calungsod will be held in the UST Chapel at 7:30 a.m. Friday.

 

Last Oct. 21, Pope Benedict XVI formally named Calungsod a saint, the second Filipino to be canonized since Lorenzo Ruiz in 1987. — DVM, GMA News