‘Pedrito’ channels new media as on-the-go witness

He’s a 15-inch doll, carries a ‘missionary’ sling bag and has an iPad version of the Doctrina Christiana.

“Pedrito” is  the miniature version of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, with the special role of telling stories of pilgrims and sharing updates about Calungsod’s canonization and other events in Rome, Italy.

Expect to see photos and videos of Pedrito going viral on the Internet and social media.

This playful and digital-savvy version of the Visayan martyr is the brainchild of the New Media Committee under the National Commission for the Canonization of Calungsod in Manila.

Pedrito personifies a missionary youth or a “lakwatserong misyonero” with an on-the-go attitude to talk to people about their lives and stories, especially those making a pilgrimage to Rome for the Oct. 21 canonization of the Philippines’ second saint.

The boy doll made his first appearance at the Fumicino airport in Rome on Friday and “interviewed” Willy Layug, an ecclesiastical artist from Betis, Pampanga, who is working on a relief of the young martyr at the Pontificio Collegio Filipino.

Upon meeting Pedrito the doll, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, Manila Archbishop Emeritus, remarked that he was a good medium for the new evangelization.

New Media Committee head Eilleen Esteban explained how Pedrito adopts the Pinoy culture of “picture-picture” by meeting pilgrims, having his picture taken with them and posting them on social media as part of a geo-tagging tracking of his whereabouts.

Meeting Pedrito for the first time on Friday, Cebu Archbishop Emeritus, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal blessed the doll.

‘Mini Pedro’ has been seen moving around Rome  riding the Italian metro trains and buses and posing in St. Peter’s Square.

He’ll be seen hopping all over Rome in the days to come and even in the Philippines during the  Duaw Nasud, the visit of Saint Pedro’s image to several dioceses in the country. /From a report of CBCP Media