POPE Francis blessed the mosaic of San Pedro Calungsod inside the magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy yesterday.
The mosaic representing the first Visayan martyr was enthroned at the crypt beneath the main altar of the basilica, down to the tomb where the bones of St. Peter the Apostle and succeeding popes are venerated.
The mosaic’s design is patterned after an artist’s rendition of what Calungsod may have looked like found in Cebu.
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle presided over the Mass after Calungsod’s mosaic was blessed by the Holy Father.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), was unable to attend the event since he was spearheading the archdiocese’s typhoon relief efforts.
Msgr. Ildebrando Leyson, the vice postulator of Calungsod’s cause for sainthood and the rector of the St. Pedro Calungsod Shrine in Cebu City, went to Rome to attend the ceremony.
In an interview, Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said it’s an honor for the country’s church that the image of another Filipino saint is enthroned inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
“The place where San Pedro Calungsod’s image was placed is very nice because it’s near the tomb of the popes. Bihira lang yan. (That’s a rare opportunity). If you go on a pilgrimage to Rome, you will see that (Calungsod mosaic),” he said.
A painting of St. Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, the first Filipino saint, already graces a place at the left side of the basilica’s main altar.
In his message at the CBCP website, Palma said Filipinos should feel privileged to have the images of Saints Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod inside the St. Peter’s Basilica.
Palma said it was the idea of Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See Merceditas Tuazon to request the Vatican to allow them to put up an image of Calungsod inside the St. Peter’s Basilica in recognition of the country’s contribution to Christianity.
Fr. Bonnin Olivar, a Cebuano priest studying in Rome, said Filipinos should be proud of having Calungsod’s image inside St. Peter’s Basilica because not everyone gets that opportunity.
“Not all images of saints are given the space near the tomb of St. Peter the Apostle. This is an honor for us,” Olivar told Cebu Daily News through Facebook. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol