• Home
  • About Us
  • Support
  • Concerts & Events
  • Music & Media
  • Faith
  • Listen Live
  • Give Now

Article Archive

Vatican clears way for Italian Jesuit martyr in the Philippines

The Vatican has cleared the way for sainthood process of a 17th century Italian Jesuit missionary who was martyred in the Philippines.  Bishop Severo Caermare of Dipolog told UCANEWS that last week he received the needed ‘nihil obstat’ from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints for the process of Fr. Francesco Palliola, who was killed in the southern Mindanao region.  Bishop Caermare had presided over the formal opening of the canonical investigation into the life and martyrdom of Father Palliola in January. Born into noble family in the town of Nola in Naples, May 10, 1612, Fr. Palliola joined some 40 Jesuits on an expedition to the Philippines. After a trip of over two years, he finally landed in Iligan on January 2, 1644, beginning a mission in Mindanao that would take him to Dipolog, Dapitan and the rest of the Zamboanga Peninsula, spreading the Catholic faith to the locals, including the lumads.  Fr. Palliola was martyred at...

The Vatican has cleared the way for sainthood process of a 17th century Italian Jesuit missionary who was martyred in the Philippines.  Bishop Severo Caermare of Dipolog told UCANEWS that last week he received the needed ‘nihil obstat’ from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints for the process of Fr. Francesco Palliola, who was killed in the southern Mindanao region.  Bishop Caermare had presided over the formal opening of the canonical investigation into the life and martyrdom of Father Palliola in January. 

Born into noble family in the town of Nola in Naples, May 10, 1612, Fr. Palliola joined some 40 Jesuits on an expedition to the Philippines. After a trip of over two years, he finally landed in Iligan on January 2, 1644, beginning a mission in Mindanao that would take him to Dipolog, Dapitan and the rest of the Zamboanga Peninsula, spreading the Catholic faith to the locals, including the lumads.  Fr. Palliola was martyred at the age of 37 at Ponot, now Jose S. Dalman town, on January 29, 1648 by Tampilo, a converted native leader who had left Catholicism, and who the priest was trying to bring back to the faith.

Although he died some 368 years ago, the Jesuit priest is still remembered in the oral history of the tribe as a "loving and protective father."  A painting of Fr. Palliola, showing a dagger piercing his throat, remains at the archives of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Together with traditions passed on since his death, and written records of individuals who have been healed after praying to him, the painting is a reminder of Fr. Palliola's lasting impact on the people of the Peninsula. His gravesite, marked by a modest memorial, continues to be regularly visited by those who seek his intercession.

Work on Fr. Palliola's sainthood has been a collaborative effort involving not just the Diocese of Dipolog but also the Jesuits and the Augustinian Recollects who had worked in the area.  If declared a saint, Fr. Palliola will be third from the Philippines, after St. Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila and St. Pedro Calungsod of Cebu - and the first to come from Mindanao.  (Source: UCAN)

Full Article

Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Soundcloud

Public Inspection File | EEO

© 2015 - 2021 Spirit FM 90.5 - All Rights Reserved.