Palma’s holiday wish: Camomot’s sainthood

If there’s one Christmas wish Cebu Archbishop José Palma wants granted, it is for the late Cebuano Archbishop Teofilo Camomot to be declared a saint during Palma’s lifetime.

The 67-year-old prelate said he hopes for a speedy progress on the ongoing cause of Camomot’s canonization considering that it may commonly take decades for a candidate to be raised to the altars of saints and holy people.

“(My Christmas wish is) for the cause of Archbishop Camomot to speed up more, that in our time the dream of having a Filipino saint who is a member of the clergy will become a reality,” he told reporters yesterday.

He said that more importantly, this aspiration is shared by most local priests and other religious men, especially that this year’s pastoral thrust of the Philippine Catholic Church is centered on the life of the clergy and consecrated men.

Much to the delight of the local clergy, the cause of Camomot’s sainthood has advanced recently.

On November 9, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints from Vatican granted the Cebu archdiocese the decree of validity approving the diocesan inquiry which the latter had worked on for years.

To note, causes for sainthood commonly start at the diocesan level, which includes the gathering of testimonies of the life and virtues of the candidate, as well as the accounts of his holiness.

After the diocesan process, the cause now proceeds to the next stage which is the Roman process, wherein the archdiocese has to make the "positio" or a dissertation that will prove of Camomot’s heroic virtues and fame of sanctity.

While this develops, the Cebu archdiocese laid out yesterday the details on the scheduled exhumation and transfer of the remains of Camomot on January 3 to 4, 2018.

Father Mhar Vincent Balili, vice postulator on the cause of Camomot’s beatification and canonization, said the planned exhumation was upon the approval from the Rome-based Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Camomot’s remains are presently buried at the motherhouse of the Daughters of Saint Teresa (DST) – the religious congregation Camomot founded – in Barangay Valladolid, Carcar City.

Balili said that at 9 a.m. of January 3, Archbishop Palma will preside over a Mass before the exhumation rite.

After the Mass, a team of forensic experts or anthropologists based in Manila will then proceed with exhuming Camomot’s remains. They will take an oath not take or remove anything from his remains.

Balili also said around 30 people, including Camomot’s immediate family, consulters of the Cebu archdiocese and the DST sisters, will witness the proceedings.

Balili said the procedure will be done in private to keep its solemnity. The media, he said, are not allowed to cover.

He said the process of exhumation and examination of Camomot’s remains may run for eight hours, and is targeted to finish by 5 p.m. of that same day.

Pilgrims are discouraged from visiting the DST motherhouse, which will be closed at that time.

When finished, a public viewing of Camomot’s remains inside a new coffin will be held until the next day.

Balili said the clergy is expecting many people to crowd when the compound is reopened so they have coordinated with the city government and the barangay to heighten security and address traffic concerns.

On January 4, Palma will celebrate another Mass at 4 p.m. and will be followed by the interment of Camomot’s remains inside a metal-made coffin at the chapel of Domus Teofilo museum, his permanent resting place.

Camomot’s present burial site is only a few meters away from the museum. Balili said the original burial site will be converted into a chapel.