Construction work officially started on the site of the national thanksgiving mass for the sainthood of Blessed Pedro Calungsod in Cebu City.

The mass will be held on November 30 or almost a month after Pope Benedict XI leads the canonization rites for Calungsod and six other blessed persons in Rome, Italy.

Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the head of the national preparations committee for the canonization activities, led the blessing at the South Road Properties where the template or place for mass is being built.

“This place will now become a historical site,” the prelate said in his message to the participants.

He also called on the people to join the celebration and “make the place holy and historical.”

Also present at the groundbreaking ceremony were Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and church officials including Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Julito Cortes, Vicars General Monsignori Roberto Alesna and Cayetano Gelbolingo.

Vidal and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma had earlier written to Rama seeking the declaration of the template as a heritage site.

Rama said he supports the prelates’ stand but the letter of request still had to be sent to the City Council and the Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission.

Garcia also expressed support for the request.

She said the canonization, which happens once in many generations, deserves a landmark.

Calungsod was a teenaged catechist who served with the Jesuit mission in the Marianas from June 1668 until his death on April 2, 1672.

The template, or shrine, is the structure where the mass and other spiritual activities will be celebrated after the canonization rites of Calungsod in Rome.*PNA

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