Half a million at St. Calungsod’s thanksgiving Mass in Cebu

November 30, 2012 - An estimated half a million people attended the "national thanksgiving" celebration for the Philippines’ new Saint Pedro Calungsod, in Cebu on Friday. Among those present at the event were President Benigno Aquino, new Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu and Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. A foot procession of 80 floats of Catholic saints, from parishes around Cebu province opened the celebration early in the day. At noon, a waterborne procession brought the image of Calungsod on board a galleon to a new site dedicated to the saint, which stands on a 27-hectare beachside property. President Aquino, who arrived in the city early in the day, delivered a message after the Mass, which was followed by a cultural presentation and a grand fireworks display. Church officials have cited Calungsod as a role model for young people as well as overseas Filipino workers, as he died for his faith in his teens while in a foreign land. Thursday’s thanksgiving Mass followed the canonization Mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome on Oct. 21 when Pope Benedict XVI declare Pedro Calungsod saint along with 5 others. The teenage Filipino sacristan and catechist was born around 1654 in the Visayas region and martyred on 2 April 1672, in Guam.