Bataclan to lead Cebu’s parishes for 6 weeks

CEBU Archbishop Jose Palma has appointed an administrator of the archdiocese as he prepares to go to Rome, Italy for more than one month to attend church activities, including the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod.

In a circular dated Oct. 1, 2012, Palma said the appointment of Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Emilio Bataclan as administrator took effect last Friday, Oct. 5, 2012, and will end on Nov. 15, 2012.

Bataclan is one of two auxiliary bishops of Cebu. Bishop Julito Cortes is joining Palma in Rome.

Bishop Bataclan is the parish priest of Sto. Tomas de Villanueva in Danao City. He was bishop of Iligan before he was transferred to Cebu in 2004.

Roles

Archbishop Palma, who is also Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, will also attend the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops from Oct. 7 to 28, with the theme “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.”

According to the Vatican Information Service, Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Manila Archbishop Antonio Luis Tagle as secretary of the Synod’s Commission of the Message and Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, as its president.

Archbishop Palma is also set to say mass with Pope Benedict XVI and other episcopal presidents from around the world for the opening of the Year of Faith celebration on Thursday.

The Catholic Church has two other celebrations, the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Vatican Council II and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Saint

The prelate is also leading the 900-member delegation to the canonization rites of the country’s second saint, Calungsod, set on Oct. 21, 2012.

Canonization is the process through which the name Pedro Calungsod, Filipino lay catechist, will be included in the list of saints of the Catholic Church.

Calungsod and Jesuit priest Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores were killed by natives in a mission in the Marianas Islands in April 1672.

Calungsod was beatified by Blessed Pope John Paul II on March 5, 2000.

In a separate interview, Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said activities have been lined up to promote the devotion to Beato Pedro nationwide.

Among the activities is the Duaw Nasud or a pilgrimage of the official statue of the Visayan martyr to various dioceses in the country, which will start a few days after the canonization.

“I did not know also Pedro Calungsod until the Archbishop of Guam told me about him. He told me, you have a candidate for the sainthood,” Vidal told reporters last week.

Cardinal Vidal said he worked with Fr. Juan Ledesma, SJ, in putting together the first book on Calungsod’s life for the cause of beatification more than 10 years ago.

Vidal related that the official statue of Blessed Pedro Calungsod will be brought back to the country on Oct. 25 to begin a pilgrimage in some dioceses in Luzon.
The same image is expected in Cebu by November, in time for the national thanksgiving mass at the South Road Properties.