Calungsod, Saint Pedro (1655?-1672), was a young Roman Catholic missionary from the Philippines . He was killed while serving as a lay catechist (teacher of religion) in the Mariana Islands . Calungsod (sometimes spelled Calonsor or Calunsod) died alongside fellow missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Spanish Jesuit priest. The two are considered martyrs of the Catholic Church. Martyrs are people who remain faithful to their beliefs despite being persecuted, tortured, or even killed.
Little is known about Calungsod’s life. He was born around 1655 in the Visayan Islands in the Philippines, then a possession of Spain . He may have attended a Jesuit school. In 1668, Calungsod went to the Mariana Islands with some Jesuit missionaries to spread Catholicism to the native Chamorro people. It was quite unusual for an indigenous (native) Filipino youth to be employed this way.
The Jesuits performed many baptisms in the Marianas. Some of their enemies began spreading rumors that the baptismal water was poisoned. In 1672, Calungsod and San Vitores baptized the child of a local chieftain named Matapang in Tomhom village (now Tumon) on the island of Guam . According to some accounts, they had the permission of the child’s Christian mother to do so. Matapang became enraged and enlisted another villager named Hirao to help kill the missionaries. On April 2, Matapang and Hirao first killed Calungsod, then San Vitores. Accounts tell that Calungsod could have escaped, but that he chose to stay with the priest. The missionaries’ bodies were thrown into the sea near Tomhom.
San Vitores was beatified (declared to be blessed in heaven) in 1985. His beatification brought attention to Calungsod’s death. Calungsod was beatified in 2000 by Pope John Paul II , who stated that: “Young people today can draw encouragement and strength from the example of Pedro, whose love of Jesus inspired him to devote his teenage years to teaching the faith as a lay catechist.” Calungsod was canonized (declared a saint ) by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 21, 2012. He became the second Roman Catholic saint from the Philippines, after Saint Lorenzo Ruiz , who was canonized in 1987. Calungsod’s feast day is April 2.
