Article: Pedro Calungsod stained glass (cropped).jpg
Calungsod on a stained-glass window in Cubao Cathedral
Ginatilan, Cebu, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish Empire
Tumon, Guam, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish Empire
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
Cebu Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Pedro Calungsod, Archbishop's Residence Compound, 234 D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City 6000 PH
Martyr's palm, Spear, Bolo, Doctrina Christiana book, Rosary, Christogram,
Crucifix
Filipino youth, Catechumens, Altar servers, the Philippines, Overseas Filipino Workers, Cebuanos, Visayans, Archdiocese of Cebu, Pury, San Antonio, Quezon Province
Pedro Calungsod ( or archaically ; mid-1650s – April 2, 1672), also known as Peter Calungsod and Pedro Calonsor, was a Catholic Filipino-Visayan migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist who, along with the Spanish Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, suffered religious persecution and martyrdom in Guam for their missionary work in 1672.
While in Guam, Calungsod preached Christianity to the Chamorros through catechesis, while baptizing infants, children, and adults at the risk and expense of being persecuted and eventually murdered. Through Calungsod and San Vitores's missionary efforts, many native Chamorros converted to Catholicism.
Calungsod was beatified on March 5, 2000, by Pope John Paul II, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on October 21, 2012.
Early years and missionary work
Birthplace dispute
Few details of the early life of Calungsod (spelled Calonsor in Spanish records) are known. Historical records do not mention his exact birthplace or birth date and merely identified him as "Pedro Calonsor, el Visayo". Historical research identifies Ginatilan in Cebu, Hinunangan and Hinundayan in Southern Leyte, Baybay in Leyte, and the Molo district of Iloilo City as possible places of origin; Loboc, Bohol also makes a claim. Of these claims, the one from Ginatilan, Cebu, is considered the strongest. Nonetheless, all four locations were within the Diocese of Cebu at the time of Calungsod's martyrdom.
Proponents of an Ilonggo origin argue that in the early Spanish period, the term "Visayan" exclusively referred to people from the island of Panay and the nearby islands of Negros and Romblon. In contrast, people from Cebu, Bohol, and Leyte were called "Pintados". Thus, had he been born in Cebu, he would have been referred to as "Calonsor El Pintado" instead of "Calonsor El Visayo"; the term "Visayan" receiving its present scope (i.e., including inhabitants of Cebu, Bohol, and Leyte) sometime the 1700s. However, American historian and scholar John N. Schumacher disputes the Bisaya/Pintados dichotomy claim as at that time the Pintados were also referred to as Visayans regardless of location and said Calungsod "was a Visayan" and may have been but doubtfully "from the island of Cebu" or "could have come any other Visayas islands".
The Cebu camp reasoned that Ginatilan contains a high density of people surnamed Calungsod and that during the beatification process, they were the initial claimants to having been Calungsod's birthplace. The Calungsods of Iloilo also claim to be the oldest branch, based on baptismal records containing the surname "Calungsod" dating to circa 1748, compared to branches in Cebu and Leyte, which possess baptismal records dating only to 1828 and 1903, respectively.
Training and arrival in Guam
In Cebu, Calungsod received primary education at a Jesuit boarding school, mastering the Catechism and learning to communicate in Spanish. He also likely honed his drawing, painting, singing, acting, and carpentry skills, as these were necessary for missionary work.
In 1668, Calungsod, then around 14, was amongst the young catechists chosen to accompany Spanish Jesuit missionaries to the Islas de Los Ladrones ("Isles of Thieves"), which had been renamed the Mariana Islands the year before to honor both the Virgin Mary and the mission's benefactress, María Ana of Austria, Queen Regent of Spain. Calungsod accompanied the priest Diego San Vitores to Guam to catechize the native Chamorros. Missionary life on the island was difficult as provisions did not arrive regularly, the jungles and terrain were difficult to traverse, and the Marianas were frequently devastated by typhoons. The mission nevertheless persevered, and a significant number of locals were baptized.
Beatification
A month after the martyrdom of San Vitores and Calungsod, a process for beatification was initiated but only for San Vitores. Political and religious turmoil, however, delayed and halted the process for centuries. In 1981, as Hagåtña was preparing for its 20th anniversary as a diocese, the 1673 beatification cause of San Vitores was rediscovered in old manuscripts and revived until he was finally beatified on October 6, 1985. This also gave recognition to Calungsod, paving the way for his beatification.
In 1980, Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, then-Archbishop of Cebu, asked permission from the Vatican to initiate Calungsod's beatification and canonization cause. In March 1997, the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved the acta of the diocesan beatification process. That same year, Vidal appointed Ildebrando Leyson as vice-postulator for the cause, tasked with compiling a Positio Super Martyrio ("position regarding the martyrdom") to be scrutinized by the Congregation. The positio, which relied heavily on San Vitores's beatification documentation, was completed in 1999.
Wanting to include young Asian laypersons in his first beatification for the Great Jubilee in 2000, Pope John Paul II paid particular attention to the cause of Calungsod. In January 2000, he approved the decree super martyrio ("concerning the martyrdom") of Calungsod, scheduling his beatification for March 5 of that year at Saint Peter's Square in Rome.
Regarding Calungsod's charitable works and virtuous deeds, John Paul II declared:
...From his childhood, Pedro Calungsod declared himself unwaveringly for Christ and responded generously to his call. Young people today can draw encouragement and strength from the example of Pedro, whose love of Jesus inspired him to devote his teenage years to teaching the faith as a lay catechist. Leaving family and friends behind, Pedro willingly accepted the challenge put to him by Fr. Diego de San Vitores to join him on the Mission to the Chamorros. In a spirit of faith, marked by strong Eucharistic and Marian devotion, Pedro undertook the demanding work asked of him and bravely faced the many obstacles and difficulties he met. In the face of imminent danger, Pedro would not forsake Fr. Diego, but as a "good soldier of Christ", preferred to die at the missionary's side.
Sainthood
On December 19, 2011, the Holy See officially approved the miracle qualifying Calungsod for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church. The recognized miracle dates from March 26, 2003, when a woman from Leyte, pronounced clinically dead two hours after a heart attack, was revived when an attending physician invoked Calungsod's intercession.
Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the declaration ceremony on behalf of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He later revealed that Pope Benedict XVI had approved and signed the official promulgation decrees recognizing the miracles as authentic and worthy of belief. The College of Cardinals was then sent a dossier on the new saints, and they were asked to indicate their approval. On February 18, 2012, after the Consistory for the Creation of Cardinals, Amato formally petitioned the pope to announce the new saints' canonization. On October 21, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI canonized Calungsod in Saint Peter's Square. The pope wore papal vestments used only on special occasions. Cardinal Ricardo Jamin Vidal, the Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu, concelebrated at the canonization Mass.
Relics
At his canonization Mass, Calungsod was the only saint without a first class relic exposed for veneration, as his body had been thrown into the sea and lost. The cutlass used to hack Calungsod's head and neck was retrieved from Guam by Vidal and is now venerated as a second-class relic. During the homily, Benedict XVI said that Calungsod received the Sacrament of Absolution from San Vitores before his death.
Feast day
After Lorenzo Ruíz of Manila, Calungsod is the second Filipino to be declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Martyrology celebrates Calungsod's feast along with Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores every April 2, their dies natalis (heavenly birthdate); when April 2 falls within Holy Week or the Octave of Easter, his feast is transferred to the Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent, the day after the Friday of Sorrows and before Palm Sunday.
Saturday has been designated as the weekly day for devotions and novenas in his honor, as he was killed on a first Saturday.
Birthplace issue
Various areas in the Visayan islands claim that Pedro Calungsod was born and raised there. Extensive research provided by the census research of Ginatilan, Cebu provided a longstanding record of Calonsor and Calungsod natives from their area, from which a strong claim had the most Calungsod natives originating since Filipino-Spanish era since the late 1700s. According to the Parish Pastoral Council William Pancho of Ginatilan, Cebu, there is a strong claim that in the mid-1600s, there were three Calungsod brothers:
Valerio Calungsod, who migrated to Iloilo
Casimiro Calungsod, who emigrated to Bohol
Pablo Calungsod, who remained in Ginatilan, Cebu, and was the father of Pedro Calungsod.
In a public televised interview with ABS-CBN chief correspondent and newscaster Korina Sanchez, Cardinal Ricardo Jamin Vidal expressed his dismay that when the original beatification process of Pedro Calungsod began in the 1980s, no city except for Ginatilan, Cebu, was willing to come forward and claim credit for being Pedro's birthplace. Not surprisingly, however, when Pedro's canonization became official, Catholic bishops from the nearby provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Iloilo and various Mindanao provinces suddenly came out of the woodwork, all laying claim to be the "official birthplace" of the newly minted saint.
As a result, Vidal ruled that he will not establish a definitive judgment on his birthplace since Spanish records only indicate the words "Pedro Calonsor, El Visayo" as his native description. Furthermore, he stated that all Visayan provinces were under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Cebu during the Filipino-Spanish era.
Iconography
It is not known what Calungsod looked like, as no contemporary depictions survive. The writer Alcina, who was a contemporary of Pedro Calungsod, described the male Visayan indios of his time as usually more corpulent, better built, and somewhat taller than the Tagalogs in Luzon; that their skin was light brown; that their faces were usually round and of fine proportions; that their noses were flat; that their eyes and hair were black; that they – especially the youth – wore their hair a little bit longer; and that they already started to wear camisas (shirts) and calzones (knee-breeches). Pedro Chirino, S.J., who also worked in the Visayas in the 1590s, similarly described the Visayans as well-built, of pleasing countenance and light-skinned.
Calungsod is often depicted as a teenaged young man wearing a camisa de chino that is sometimes bloodied and usually dark, loose trousers. His most famous attributes are the martyr's palm pressed to his chest and the Doctrina Christiana. He is depicted in mid-stride, occasionally also bearing a rosary or crucifix to indicate his missionary status. In some early statues, Calungsod is shown with a spear and catana (cutlass), the instruments of his death.
In art
Pedro Calungsod 2012 stampsheet of the Philippines (cropped).jpg
Cropped image of Calungsod extracted from a postage stamp
Pedro Calungsod 2012 stamp (cropped).jpg
Calungsod on a 2012 ₱5-postage stamp
The saint as he appears on a 2012 Philippine postage stamp
The first portrayals stated to be of Pedro Calungsod were drawings made by Eduardo Castrillo in 1994 for the Heritage of Cebu Monument in Parian. A bronze statue representing Calungsod was made and forms part of the monument. Sculptors Francisco dela Victoria and Vicente Gulane of Cebu and Justino Cagayat, Jr., of Paete, Laguna, created statues representing Calungsod in 1997 and 1999, respectively.
When the Archdiocese of Manila in 1998 published the pamphlet Pedro Calungsod: Young Visayan "Proto-Martyr" by theologian Catalino Arevalo, SJ, the 17-year-old Ronald Tubid of Oton, Iloilo, then a student-athlete at the University of the East, was chosen to model for a portrait representing Calungsod. This became the basis for Rafael del Casal's painting in 1999, Is which was chosen as the official portrait for Calungsod. The Del Casal image is the first to feature a Christogram, the seal of the Society of Jesus, with which Calungsod was affiliated. The original painting is now enshrined at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Pedro Calungsod in Cebu City.
Several statues representing Calungsod were also commissioned for the beatification, with one brought to Rome and blessed by John Paul II. This became the "Pilgrim Image", now enshrined at the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Black Nazarene of the Society of the Angel of Peace in Cansojong, Talisay, Cebu. Another image was enshrined at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Pedro Calungsod in Cebu City. Both images depict Calungsod wearing a white camisa (shirt) and trousers, with the martyr's palm, a rosary, and a crucifix pressed to his breast. During the novena before his feast day, a replica of the catana used to kill him is set into the arm of the statue.
For the canonization celebrations, the chosen sculpture by Justino Cagayat, Jr., represented Calungsod in mid-stride and carrying the Doctrina Christiana and the martyr's palm pressed to his chest. This image was brought to Rome for the canonization festivities. Upon its return to the Philippines, the image toured the country. When not on a pilgrimage tour, the image is enshrined at the Cebu Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Pedro Calungsod in the archbishop's residence.
In film
Pedro Calungsod: Batang Martir is a Filipino film with Rocco Nacino in the title role released on December 25, 2013, as an official entry to the 2013 Metro Manila Film Festival. It was written and directed by Francis O. Villacorta and produced by HPI Synergy Group and Wings Entertainment.
Places and things named after Calungsod
Churches
Cebu Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Pedro Calungsod, Archbishop's Residence Compound, 234 D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City
Chapel of San Pedro Calungsod – SM Aura Premier, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Parokya ni San Pedro Calunsod, Diyosesis ng Lucena – Brgy. Pury, San Antonio, Quezon
San Pedro Calungsod Quasi Parish, Poblacion, Muntinlupa
Chapel of San Pedro Calungsod, SM Seaside, South Road Properties, Cebu City
San Pedro Calungsod Parish and Sanctuary of St. Padre Pio, Antipolo
San Pedro Calungsod Parish, Sta. Catalina, Minalin, Pampanga
San Pedro Calungsod Parish- Diocese of Surigao, Sta. Cruz, Placer, Surigao del Norte
San Pedro Calungsod Parish, Cantabaco, Toledo City, Toledo City, Cebu
San Pedro Calungsod Parish, Villa de Calamba, Calamba City
Films and theater
2013: Pedro Calungsod: Batang Martir
2014: "San Pedro Calungsod The Musical Stage Play"
Television
Canonization Of Blessed Pedro Calungsod TV Special Coverage (PTV 4, 2012)
San Pedro Calungsod: Ang Ikalawang Santo Documentary TV Special (ABS-CBN 2, 2013)
Educational institutions
Academia de San Pedro Calungsod – Naga, Cebu
St. Pedro Calungsod Academy (formerly Blessed Pedro Calungsod Academy) – Pasig
San Pedro Calungsod Learning Center – Carmen, Cebu
San Pedro Calungsod Mission School – Maribojoc, Bohol
San Pedro Calungsod Montessori & Science School – San Pedro, Laguna
San Pedro Calungsod Technical Vocational School, Inc. – Zamboanga
See also
List of Filipino Saints, Blesseds, and Servants of God
Roman Catholicism in Guam
Spanish-Chamorro Wars References Bibliography
Arevalo, Catalino. Pedro Calungsod, Young Visayan Proto-Martyr, Archdiocese of Manila Youth Ministry 1998, New edition from the Daughters of St. Paul, Manila 2000
Leyson, Ildebrando Jesus. Pedro Calonsor Bisaya, Prospects of a Teenage Filipino, Cebu City, Claretian Publications 1999.
Leyson, Ildebrando Jesus A. Pedro Calonsor Bissaya: Prospects of a Teenage Filipino. Second Edition. Cebu: Basic Graphics, 2000.
Putzu, Fr. Salvatorre, "Pedro Calungsod, Young Catechist & Martyr", Second Edition, Manila, Word & Life Publications, Inc., 2012
Bersales, Jose Eleazar Reynes, "San Pedro Calungsod: The Canonization Album," University Of San Carlos Press, Cebu, 2012
Agualada, Jr., Salvador G., "Pedro Calungsod: Patron for the Filipino Youth," Claretian Publications, Inc., Manila, 2012
Orbeta, Ruben, "The Liturgical Cult of San Pedro Calungsod: a Filipino Response to the Universal Call to Holiness," STL University Of America, New York, 2019
External links
Pedro Calungsod Official website https://web.archive.org/web/20200922002256/http://www.pedrocalungsod.org/
The Archdiocese of Cebu
Website by the Postulatio Causae Beatificationis seu Canonizationis Beati Petri Calungsod |
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A Young Filipino Martyr
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The Biography of Pedro Calungsod
PEDRO CALUNGSOD was a young native of the Visayas region of the Philippines. Very little is known about him. He was just one of the boy catechists who went with some Spanish Jesuit missionaries from the Philippines to the Ladrones Islands in the western Pacific in 1668 to evangelize the Chamorros.
Life in the Ladrones was hard. The provisions for the Mission did not arrive regularly; the jungles were too thick to cross; the cliffs were very stiff to climb, and the islands were frequently visited by devastating typhoons. Despite all these, the missionaries persevered, and the Mission was blessed with many conversions. Subsequently, the islands were renamed “Marianas” by the missionaries in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Queen Regent of Spain, María Ana, who was the benefactress of that Mission.
But very soon, a Chinese quack, named Choco, envious of the prestige that the missionaries were gaining among the Chamorros, started to spread the talk that the baptismal water of the missionaries was poisonous. And since some sickly Chamorro infants who were baptized died, many believed the calumniator and eventually apostatized. The evil campaign of Choco was readily supported by the Macanjas (sorcerers) and the Urritaos (young male prostitutes) who, along with the apostates, began persecuting the missionaries.
The most unforgettable assault happened on 2 April 1672, the Saturday just before the Passion Sunday of that year. At around seven o’clock in the morning, Pedro—by then already about 17 years old—and the superior of the mission, named Padre Diego Luís de San Vitores, came to the village of Tomhom, in the Island of Guam. There, they were told that a baby girl was recently born in the village, so they went to ask the child’s father, named Matapang, to bring out the infant for baptism. Matapang was a Christian and a friend of the missionaries, but having apostatized, he angrily refused to have his baby baptized.
To give Matapang some time to cool down, Padre Diego and Pedro gathered the children and some adults of the village at the nearby shore and started chanting with them the truths of the Catholic Faith. They invited Matapang to join them, but the apostate shouted back that he was angry with God and was already fed up with the Christian teachings.
Determined to kill the missionaries, Matapang went away and tried to enlist in his cause another villager, named Hirao, who was not a Christian. At first, Hirao refused, mindful of the kindness of the missionaries towards the natives; but when Matapang branded him a coward, he got piqued and so he consented. Meanwhile, during that brief absence of Matapang from his hut, Padre Diego and Pedro took the chance of baptizing the infant, with the consent of the Christian mother.
When Matapang learned of the baptism, he became even more furious. He violently hurled spears first at Pedro. The lad skirted the darting spears with remarkable dexterity. The witnesses said that Pedro had all the chances to escape because he was very agile, but he did not want to leave Padre Diego alone. Those who knew Pedro personally believed that he would have defeated his fierce aggressors and would have freed both himself and Padre Diego if only he had some weapons because he was a very valiant boy; but Padre Diego never allowed his companions to carry arms. Finally, Pedro got hit by a spear at the chest and he fell to the ground. Hirao immediately charged towards him and finished him off with a blow of a cutlass on the head. Padre Diego gave Pedro the sacramental absolution. After that, the assassins also killed Padre Diego.
Matapang took the crucifix of Padre Diego and pounded it with a stone while blaspheming God. Then, both assassins denuded the bodies of Pedro and Padre Diego, dragged them to the edge of the shore, tied large stones to the feet of these, brought them on a proa to sea and threw them into the deep. Those remains of the martyrs were never to be found again.
When the companion missionaries of Pedro learned of his death, they exclaimed, “Fortunate youth! How well rewarded his four years of persevering service to God in the difficult Mission are: he has become the precursor of our superior, Padre Diego, in Heaven!” They remembered Pedro to be a boy with very good dispositions, a virtuous catechist, a faithful assistant, and a good Catholic whose perseverance in the Faith even to the point of martyrdom proved him to be a good soldier of Christ (cf. II Tim 2:3).
Padre Diego Luís de San Vitores was beatified in 1985. It was his beatification that brought the memory of Pedro Calungsod to our day. On 5 March 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified Pedro Calungsod at Saint Peter's Square in Rome.
Prayer to Blessed Pedro Calungsod Blessed Pedro Calungsod,
student, catechist, young migrant,
missionary, faithful friend, martyr,
you inspire us
by your fidelity in times of adversity;
by your courage in teaching the faith
in the midst of hostility;
and by your love in shedding your blood
for the sake of the Gospel.
Make our troubles your own
(here mention your request)
and intercede for us
before the throne of Mercy and Grace
so that,
as we experience the help of heaven,
we may be encouraged to live
and proclaim the Gospel here on earth.
Amen.
Prayer for the Beatification
of the Servant of God
Lord God,
through your Son Jesus Christ,
You taught us that there can be
no greater love than to lay down
one's life for one's friends.
Your servant, Pedro Calungsod,
inspires us by his fidelity
in times of adversity,
by his courage in teaching the Faith
in the midst of hostility,
and by his love in shedding his blood
for the sake of the Gospel.
We humbly ask you to raise him
to the honor of the altar,
so that we may count him
among our intercessors in heaven
for the glory of your name.
We ask this
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN
Prayer for Special Intentions to
BLESSED PEDRO CALUNGSOD My Lord, In your grace,
you have shown through your
servant, Beato Pedro Calungsod,
the sublime prize of following
you;
Through his martyrdom, you
have shown us that age and
race will not hinder us from
serving and loving you;
His youthful fervor in
defending the faith earned him
the title to be called Blessed;
Thus in confidence,
I humbly call unto him to pray
with me, and to intercede for
this urgent favor
(make a request) and that through
his glorious life, I may try
to emulate him, together
with Mother Mary, who
have without reserve said
yes to your will.
AMEN.
You are visitor #:
If you receive the grace you asked for through
Blessed Pedro Calungsod, kindly inform or write to:
Commission on Worship Office
Barangay Press, Patria de Cebu Bldg.
P. Burgos cor. Legaspi Sts., Cebu City
6000 Philippines
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