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This is a list of Filipino saints, beati, venerables, and Servants of God by the Catholic Church. Majority of these men and women of religious life were born, died, or lived within the Philippine archipelago.
Contents
Ferdinand Magellan's expedition of 1521 to the islands included Catholic priests and missionaries among the crew. Some Catholic missionaries became the explorers of the native lands while converting and coercing the Indios towards Christianity. Because of the Spanish colonization started by Miguel López de Legazpi, Christianity was introduced in Cebu, which remains a bastion of the Catholic faith.
Several Filipino Catholics have been considered for sainthood over the past centuries. Most are from the 20th century and later.
The first Filipino canonized as saint was Lorenzo Ruiz, a married lay Dominican and member of the Rosarian Confraternity in dedication to Our Lady. Ruiz died as a martyr of faith during the persecutions in Nagasaki, Japan, where the Japanese rulers organized an anti-clerical campaign. Ruiz was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Manila in 1981 and was later canonized at St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, in 1987. 25 years later, the title of "saint" was bestowed upon another martyr, Pedro Calungsod. Calungsod was canonized in October 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
