Nalzaro: Saint Cory?

FORMER president Cory Aquino will be buried today.
She is gone but she left a legacy that will always be remembered for leading the restoration of democracy in our country. We lost a national treasure. May her soul rest in peace.

Watching the continuing coverage on television on Cory's death, I was struck by the suggestion of an ordinary citizen. After citing Cory’s good deeds and traits, the ordinary citizen suggested that the Church hierarchy include Cory as among the candidates for sainthood.

I initially considered the suggestion as crazy. But later on, after watching the coverage and reading articles about Cory in the newspapers, I thought that it did have some sense.
Why not do it? Cory sacrificed so much for her love of country and the Filipino people. She was very pious, religious and God-fearing. She ran her government based on honesty and sincerity.
A candidate for sainthood is not necessarily a church servant. Even ordinary people who spread the word of God and defend their religious belief can become a saint.

The Church has a set of standards and criteria for an individual to qualify as a saint. The Vatican has a committee that studies the life and background of a particular candidate. Once qualified, the candidate will then be beatified and elevated to full honors of the altar by canonization following at least two documented miracles.
Here's a brief background on San Lorenzo Ruiz (the first Filipino saint), Blessed Pedro Calungsod and Mother Theresa of India.

Ruiz was a layman, married, and had two sons and a daughter. He was an alter boy and served as clerk-sacristan in the church in Binondo. In 1636, he was accused of a criminal offense which forced him to go to Japan where Christians were harassed and persecuted. Refusing to renounce his Christian faith, he was hanged to death.

Calungsod, on the other hand, was killed while doing missionary work in Guam in 1672. He was with Blessed Diego Luis San Vitores in the Marianas Islands. Through San Vitores and Calungsod, many people there received the sacraments, especially that of baptism.
Mother Theresa devoted her whole life to the sickly poor until she also got ill with a contagious disease. She died serving the poor.

How do you compare their contributions to their faith, country and mankind with that of Cory Aquino that qualified them to become saints?

Posted by: Bobby Nalzaro : Saksi
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/nalzaro-saint-cory