Pedro Calungsod will be the second Filipino Catholic saint when he is canonized on October 21, 2012.
The Vatican, through its official news website, announced the canonization of the 17th century Visayan martyr following the approval of Pope Benedict XVI.
Angelo Cardinal Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, made the announcement in behalf of the Pope at St. Peter’s Basilica following a ceremony in which 22 bishops from around the world were elevated to the rank of cardinal.
Calungsod, a lay catechist who was born in 1655 in the Diocese of Cebu, died at the age of 17 on April 2, 1672 in Guam while trying to defend his fellow mission worker, Jesuit priest and now Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores. He was struck by a spear and his skull was split by a machete blow. Their bodies where then tied together and thrown into the sea.
He was beatified by Pope John Paul II, along with 43 other martyrs, on March 5, 2000 in ceremonies held at St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The Vatican officially set April 2 as Calungsod’s feast day. He will be the second Filipino to be canonized in the history of the Catholic Church. The first Filipino saint, Lorenzo Ruiz was canonized by John Paul in 1987.
The Vatican recognized earlier the recovery of a Cebu businesswoman from a deep coma as a miracle obtained through Calungsod’s intercession.
