The venue for the national thanksgiving mass on the canonization of San Pedro Calungsod on Nov. 30 in Cebu City is almost complete, Fr. Raul Gallego, chair of venue preparation, said yesterday.

Gallego said that, although the designated parking area is not yet finished, car passes were already distributed to those who applied for accreditation through the parishes. The parking area, that is across the street of the venue, can accommodate 10,000 cars.

He said work on the template, or the structure where the mass will be held, had to stop Monday night because of heavy rain. But work resumed Tuesday morning. He said they are praying it won’t rain in the remaining days of preparation so they can be ready for the dry run on Saturday.

The template is being constructed on a Cebu City government lot adjacent to the future SM City at the South Road Properties. Gallego said SM City and the Cebu Contractors Association provided free filling materials for free. The latter also provided free labor, drivers and heavy equipment operators and other construction materials.

The priest said the template will become a permanent structure in the area. They want to preserve it as a historical place.

The three-foot wooden statue of Calungsod was in Dumaguete yesterday for an overnight stay at the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral. It will arrive in the Diocese of Bacolod at 4 p.m. today from the Diocese of Kabankalan, as part of the nationwide thanksgiving pilgrimage of the second newly-canonized Filipino saint.

The statue arrived in Manila from Rome Oct. 25 and stayed in the National Capital Region area until Nov. 12. From Bacolod, the image will proceed to Iloilo. The Diocese of San Carlos will host the image on Nov. 24 and Tagbilaran on Nov. 25. The nationwide pilgrimage will end Nov. 30 at the Archdiocese of Cebu for the national thanksgiving mass, that is expected to be attended by a million people.*NAB/PNA

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