Blessed Perdo Calungsod and six others To Be Canonized by The Pope

Another Thing to be thankful this Christmas is the announcement of the beatified people now to be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. And one of them is our Blessed Pedro Calungsod, He  was beatified on March 5, 2000. His origins are debated if it is Cebu, Iloilo or Bohol, he and his companion Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores faced martyrdom in the Marianas Islands.

Blessed Pedro Calungsod will be the country's second canonized saint next to San Lorenzo Ruiz (Beatified and Canonized by Pope John Paul II).  Along with him are other beatified people and others given the Title of Servant of God. People are still waiting for the official canonization rite of the Vatican.

Complete list of the causes of saints below:

Message of Outgoing Cardinal Rosales

With less than a decade of as the Archbishop/Cardinal of Manila. Cardinal Rosales  will be retiring and the seat of the Archdiocese of Manila will be administered by Archbishop-elect (by the Vatican) Bishop Chito Tagle.

Though not yet officially installed, Cardinal Rosales sends the Filipino Catholic Community with a message on video (below) as a way of being thankful for the church  (people) for supporting his projects and made a big difference. 

Though not as controversial as Cardinal Sin, he s unusual charm toward the youth. His famous project is the Piondo ng Pinoy which garnered funds in supporting orphanes, hospital etc. Now lets hear his Final Message as Cardinal.

Blah Blah Blogs: Blessed Pope John Paul II, the patron saint of Bloggers

Aside from the Royal Wedding of the Century of Prince Charles and Kate Middleton, another worldwide event that caught the eye of the world was the Beatification of the late Pope John Paul II, which is the most loved pope of all time because of his influence especially to the youth. I myself has been inspired by his life and works that also contributed to what I am today, he affirmed my Catholic faith and also inspired me to be God's servant. And as he is elevated to the title of being Blessed, I would like to say that as a blogger I would consider him as the patron saint of bloggers or Blessed patron of bloggers, technically everywhere. I think its time for him to have that title as he himself was the pope at the age of the Internet and other technologies. His influence rippled into the world with it, he was also the first pope to send an e-mail and launch audio CDs. There were also saint who were given a patron title for new innovations like St. Claire of Assisi as the patroness of television. Pope John Paul II (also known as Karol Józef Wojtya), also started the World Youth Day which is attended by millions of Youth all over the world. And this year, it will be held in Madrid Spain, and of course I would like to go there since I have not directly participated in the world youth day 1995 where I was only in grade school back then. Truly beloved by Catholics and other faiths worldwide, he made connections with Muslims, Jews and other Religions that also paved for peaceful reconciliations. I do hope that his canonization will come in the next few years as many are now testifying by his intercession. And even just with his charisma has already won the hearts of many. 

As he is now part of Blessed Circle, she joins the rank of Mother Theresa of Calcutta and our own Pedro Calungsod, who were Beatified just years ago. And the process of Sainthood is never easy as it goes through rigorous investigation and confirmation. He is very lucky to be beatified in the span of less than 5-10 years which most would take decades or even centuries. And like what I said that he is the patron saint of bloggers, may his intercession bring more inspiration and hope for us who also speak out and evangelize using the new media.