Diocese: Pedro Calungsod’s image must be Filipino
-A A +AMonday, July 16, 2012
CEBU CITY – The Archdiocese of Cebu is still looking for an official statue of the Visayan martyr, Blessed Pedro Calungsod, who will be declared a saint in October this year.
The image should be Filipino-looking and young, and should wear an all-white outfit but no shoes.
Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal was tasked to choose the sculpture that will be the official image the Cebu Archdiocese delegation will bring to Rome for the canonization rites.
Calungsod was only 17 years old when he was killed by Chamorros in Tomhom village in Guam, Marianas on April 2, 1672 with Blessed Diego Luis de Sanvitores.
Pedro was the sole companion of Sanvitores that day, when two natives killed them one after the other for teaching catechism and administering the sacrament of baptism.
They were beheaded and their bodies were thrown into the sea.
The image should also bear a palm leaf, which is a symbol of Calungsod’s martyrdom.
Now, 340 years after his death, Calungsod’s actual looks remain a mystery.
The official image, said Cardinal Vidal, should show the young man carrying a Doctrina Cristiana or a book on Christian doctrine, because he was a catechist.
“He should also be differentiated from San Lorenzo Ruiz, who was already married when he died,” the prelate said.
Blessed John Paul II beatified Ruiz, a calligrapher who hailed from Binondo in Manila, 25 years ago. Ruiz died for his faith in Nagasaki, Japan.
The statues of Ruiz portray him as an older man holding rosary beads and wearing a white barong Tagalog and black pants.
There are four Calungsod images that are being considered. Three are in Cebu while one statue still has to be flown in from Manila.
Calungsod will be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012. (Sun.Star Cebu)
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on July 16, 2012.
Local news
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