Mass, fluvial parade, film festival planned for Calungsod’s day

AFTER the Oct. 21 canonization rites of Blessed Pedro Calungsod in Rome, there will be post-ritual celebrations in Cebu.

A thanksgiving Mass  at the South Road Property (SRP), a fluvial procession along the Mactan Channel  and a short film festival are being planned.

The date of the thanksgiving Mass has still to be set, but it will likely  be held at the SRP, said  Msgr. Trinidad Silva yesterday.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama already agreed on the venue, said Silva.

“We are expecting millions from all over the country. It will be  one big celebration for  Filipinos,” said Silva, who  heads the committee on communication of the canonization.

Six other beatified persons from Europe and the United States will be recognized as saints by Pope Benedict XVI in October.

Processions in parishes of Cebu City and a fluvial procession of Calungsod’s statue along the Mactan Channel are also being considered along with a short film festival like the Sto. Niño de Cebu film festival during the Sinulog.

“The film will center on how Calungsod has affected their lives,” Silva said.

Novena prayers have already started in parishes in the Cebu Archdiocese with catechesis in  Catholic schools and religious groups to  explain the life of Calungsod,  a Visayan youth who served in a mission to the Ladrones Islands, now known as Guam, in 1668.  He was killed by hostile natives with a Jesuit priest in 1672. /Reporter Ador Vincent S. Mayol