St. Pedro Calungsod (1654-1672) Catechist and Martyr
Welcome to INSPIRING LIVES FOR THE YEAR OF FAITH, a series on the lives of Inspiring
People and Witnesses of faith in the Catholic Church from around the world. These
holy people lived their ordinary lives in extraordinary ways. Each of them responded
to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. They are examples of great holiness
and virtue, and they invite us to follow their paths to holiness. Their unique stories
inspire us to be rooted in our faith. God calls each one of us today to inspire our
brothers and sisters and to witness to our faith. Listen 
Pope Benedict XVI canonized 7 persons on 21st October 2012 in a special ceremony at St. Peter’s square in Vatican. These new saints of the church came from various walks of life – lay women, catechist, religious, priests and nuns. In the coming weeks we shall listen to their inspiring lives. They help us to look at our lives from God’s perspective especially when we are celebrating the year of faith.
Today we listen to the heroic life of Saint Peter Calungsod, a lay Catholic from Cebu, Philippines, who accompanied Jesuit missionaries to Guam as a catechist and was martyred there in 1672 while trying to defend his fellow mission worker, Jesuit priest and now Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores. Calungsod was just 17 years of age. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI last month, on 21st October. He is the second Filipino saint after San Lorenzo Ruiz.
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Pedro Calungsod also known as Pedro Calonsor was born in 1654. Few details of his early life prior to his missionary work and death are known. It is probable that he received basic education at a Jesuit boarding school, mastering the Catechism and learning to communicate in Spanish. He likely honed his skills in drawing, painting, singing, acting, and carpentry as these were necessary in missionary work. Calungsod would have also been expected to have some aptitude in serving in the Tridentine Mass, now known as the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
Calungsod, then around the age of 14, was among the exemplary young catechists chosen to accompany the Jesuits in their mission to the Ladrones Islands or ‘Isles of Thieves’. In 1668, Calungsod travelled with Spanish Jesuit missionaries to these islands, renamed the Mariana Islands the year before, in honour of both the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Queen Regent of Spain, María Ana of Austria, who funded their voyage. Calungsod and Father San Vitores went to the Pacific Island Territory of Guam to catechize the natives.
Missionary life in those days was difficult as provisions did not arrive regularly, the jungles and terrain were difficult to traverse, and the islands were frequently devastated by typhoons. Despite all these, the mission persevered, and was able to convert a significant number of local people.
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While the Jesuit mission was progressing, a Chinese merchant named Choco began spreading rumours that the baptismal water used by missionaries was poisonous. As some sickly Chamorro infants who were baptised eventually died, many believed the story, and held the missionaries responsible. Choco was readily supported by the medicine men of the region, and some young men who despised the missionaries.
One day, in their search for a runaway companion named Esteban, Calungsod and Father San Vitores came to the village of Tumon, Guam on 2nd April 1672. There they learnt that the wife of the village chief Matapang gave birth to a daughter, and they immediately went to baptize the child. Influenced by the calumnies of Choco, the chief strongly opposed. To give Matapang some time to calm down, the missionaries gathered the children and some adults of the village at the nearby shore and started chanting with them the tenets of Christianity. They invited Matapang to join them, but he refused saying that he was fed up with Christian teachings.
Determined to kill the missionaries, Matapang went away and tried to enlist another villager, named Hirao, a non-Christian. Hirao initially refused, mindful of the missionaries' kindness towards the natives, but when Matapang branded him a coward, he gave in. Meanwhile, during that brief absence of Matapang from his hut, Father San Vitores and Calungsod baptized the baby girl, with the consent of her Christian mother.
When Matapang learnt of his daughter's baptism, he became very furious, and violently hurled his spears at Pedro, who dodged them. Witnesses claim that Calungsod could have escaped the attack, but did not want to leave Father San Vitores alone. Those who knew Calungsod personally meanwhile believed that he could have defeated the aggressors with weapons. Father San Vitores however, had banned his companions to carry arms. Soon Calungsod was hit in the chest by a spear and fell to the ground, then Hirao killed him with a machete blow to the head. Father San Vitores absolved Calungsod before he too was killed.
Calungsod, a native of Cebu province in the Philippines, "was the first to be attacked in the assault," explained Msgr. Ildebrando Leyson of the Cebu Archdiocese in the Philippines. "And they marveled how he was so skillful in evading the darts of the spears until finally he was hit in the chest. He fell and the other assassin split his skull." Matapang took Father San Vitores' crucifix and pounded it with a stone. Both assassins then took the dead bodies of Calungsod and San Vitroes, tied large stones to their feet, and threw them into the sea.
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Calungsod, the young , and , suffered and died a martyr’s death in 1672. While in the Pacific Island Territory of Guam, Calungsod preached to the local people through catechism, while baptizing both infants, children and adults. him on 5th March in the year 2000. “From his childhood, Pedro Calungsod declared himself unwaveringly for Christ and responded generously to his call,” said Pope John Paul II in his homily at the beatification of Calungsod.
“Young people today can draw encouragement and strength from the example of Pedro Calungsod, whose love of Jesus inspired him to devote his teenage years to teaching the faith as a lay catechist,” John Paul II said. 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,” the pope added.
In popular Catholic religious imagery, Calungsod is often portrayed with a catechism book, , along with a bloodied shirt and palm leaf, symbol of his martyrdom, and is often shown in a walking posture.
Today he intercedes for the young, in particular those of his native Philippines, and he challenges them. Pope John Paul II commented during the beatification of Pedro Calungsod: “Young friends, do not hesitate to follow the example of Pedro, who "pleased God and was loved by him" and who, having come to perfection in so short a time, lived a full life.” May Calungsod inspire us all in this year of faith to witness what we believe in.P.J. Joseph SJ
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