Vatican to beatify Filipino priest in October - report

MANILA, Philippines - The country may soon have its third saint as the Vatican is set to beatify a Spanish priest born in the Philippines.

An article on CBCPNews.net reported that the Vatican has approved the beatification of Filipino Catholic missionary Jose Maria de Manila (Eugenio Saz-Orozco).

The report said the missionary has been honored by the Vatican as martyr and will be beatified in Tarragona, Spain on October 13.

He will be then known as “Blessed Jose Maria de Manila.”

A miracle attributed to the Spanish priest will then be needed for his canonization as saint.

According to the article, the missionary was born in Manila of Spanish parents on September 5, 1880.

While his baptismal certificate could not be found, his school records from the University of Santo Tomas and his biographies in Spain showed that he was born in Manila, the CBCPNews said.

The missionary was among the 500 Spanish martyrs who died in the religious persecution of the 1930s.

The Philippines has currently two Catholic Saints --Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod.