Calungsod templete breaks ground

CEBU, Philippines - The Pedro Calungsod templete at the South Road Properties broke ground yesterday morning.

The ceremony was attended by His Eminence Cardinal Vidal, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Mayor Michael Rama.

The small temple will be the venue of the National Thanksgiving Mass on Nov. 30 in honor of Calungsod’s canonization and will also be the newest addition to the heritage sites in Cebu.

For Garcia, Calungsod’s canonization is a monumental honor that seldom happens in many generations.

“It is truly a monumental honor for all of us, Cebuanos, and such a canonization that can only happens once in many, many generations deserves a landmark. And for this area to be declared as a heritage site is a fitting monument and tribute to San Pedro Calungsod of Cebu ,” Garcia said.

Vidal, on the other hand, said that the canonization of Calungsod is a fulfillment of their dreams.

“We really see the fulfillment of our dreams. And therefore, we thank God for allowing us to witness this day and hopefully with each days, we will be able to complete the plan that they made out for the thanksgiving mass. We will be expecting from half a million to a million Cebuanos and guests in the venue so we have to make this really beautiful,” Vidal said.

Fr. Brian Brigoli, the vice chairperson of the Archdiocesan Commission on Cultural Heritage of the Church explained the different segments of the templete.

The center of which is the sanctuary, where the sacred altar table will be placed.

The sides will have space dedicated for the bishops or celebrants and the area can accommodate about 150 bishops for each side.

A very significant structure of the templete will be the fire-made light structure at the center, which symbolizes the transcendence of faith just like the martyrdom of Pedro Calungsod, which is a transcendence of the self.

The end of the pyramid structure at the apex will be the cross.

“We are going to start with the construction since we had the ground breaking already. And with regards to the preservation of the templete, the committee on venues is working it out. Sayang man pod kung after the celebration, there will be no structure preserved. That’s why we are going to ask the city, that the portion of this lot will be entrusted to the church or the shrine since this lot is owned by the city,” Brigoli added. — (FREEMAN)