MANILA, Philippines – Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara was a priest in his late 20s when he first met Laureana Franco or Ka Luring, a catechist known for her holiness and poverty. 

Vergara, now 61, recalled the time he first met and worked with Franco. From 1991 to 2001, he was a seminary formator who said Mass in Franco’s parish, the Saint Michael the Archangel Parish in Barangay Hagonoy, Taguig City.

“Not only did Ka Luring become my friend, she also became my inspiration in living out my priestly promises. I saw in her humility, dedication to service as a catechist, and a life of poverty that is filled with trust in God in her ministry,” the Pasig bishop said in Filipino.

Vergara spoke of Franco’s virtues — and the common call to holiness — in a Mass on Wednesday evening, August 21, as the Diocese of Pasig began its investigation into the catechist’s sainthood. 

The Mass, as well as the launch of the diocesan inquiry into Franco’s life, was held at the Minor Basilica and Archdiocesan Shrine Parish of Saint Anne in Taguig City. It was the same church where Franco was baptized in 1936. The event coincided with the 21st anniversary of the Diocese of Pasig, which was carved out of the Archdiocese of Manila in 2003.

Church investigators and researchers, as well as Franco’s relatives, attended the event led by Vergara, who is also vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Franco, who died of ovarian cancer at the age of 75 on October 17, 2011, was a teacher of the Catholic faith, known for her heroic acts of kindness and her love for the poor.

Born to a poor family in Barangay Hagonoy, she left her job as a telephone switchboard operator and accounting clerk at the Philippine Air Force to work as a full-time catechist. She also once refused a birthday gift of $10,000 from another Christian group in exchange for her church membership, even if she needed money for her mother’s cancer treatment. 

According to a 1995 feature by the Union of Catholic Asian News, Franco told the recruiters from the other Christian group: “I can fool myself and I can fool you into believing I have changed my faith and give catechesis for you, just for the salary. But I can never fool God, he will know the truth.”

Search for modern-day saints

The push for Franco’s sainthood is part of a larger effort by the Catholic Church to declare modern-day saints, believed to be models of faith and intercessors in heaven. 

There are currently two Catholic saints from the Philippines: Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod, who both assisted priests and were martyred as foreign missionaries when the Philippines was a Spanish colony. 

At a time when faith is increasingly viewed as irrelevant, the Catholic Church now seeks to recognize saints like Franco who lived out their faith in ordinary settings. 

By starting the diocesan inquiry into Franco’s sainthood, the Diocese of Pasig took the first major step in a long, meticulous process to declare a deceased Catholic a saint. The investigation, which usually takes years or decades, will eventually reach the Vatican and requires the approval of the Pope.

In his homily, Vergara said he believes it is also God’s plan that he became bishop of Pasig in 2011, the year Franco died. He presided over the catechist’s funeral Mass — and now, is spearheading the probe into Franco’s sanctity.

“Not only were we brought together by fate. We were also brought together by God to better tread the path to holiness,” the bishop said.

Vergara then reminded Catholics that holiness is the vocation of all baptized Catholics. He cited the papal document Gaudete et Exsultate, where Pope Francis “made it clear that holiness is not only for bishops, priests, and religious.” Holiness, he said, “is for everyone regardless of state in life,” and that if a person is true to his or her mission, that person is holy.

Vergara said: “If you are faithful to your wife and you are not unfaithful, you are holy! If you serve the government and you are not corrupt, you are holy! If you are a grandfather or grandmother and you have lots of patience, you are holy! If you are a worker or laborer and you are not always late for work, you are holy! If you are a student and you are serious about graduating, you are holy!”

“Holiness is faithfulness,” he added.

‘Stars’ of the Catholic Church

Laoag Bishop Renato Mayugba, whose diocese is more than nine hours away by car, also attended the opening of the diocesan probe into Franco’s sainthood. 

Mayugba heads the CBCP office that deals with proposals to declare Filipino saints. His own territory, the Diocese of Laoag, has its own candidate for sainthood: Niña Ruiz Abad, a 13-year-old girl from Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, who was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and eventually died of a heart attack in 1993. 

Abad was known for her deep prayer life and her love for the Mass, the central act of worship for Catholics.

In an interview with Rappler, Mayugba said the Philippine Catholic Church was given two “stars” in the person of Franco and Abad, a young girl and an elderly catechist. Both of them, he noted, are known for the love for the Eucharist.

Mayugba refuted age-old perceptions that only martyrs or heroes can be declared Catholic saints. “To become a saint, you do not need to do extraordinary things. They can be ordinary but you are doing it…for love of God, for love of your brothers and sisters,” he said in Filipino.

“If you are a driver or a janitor but you do your work because of your love for God, you can be a saint,” he said.

Mayugba added that facing challenges “with love,” as an offering to God, can be a “new form of martyrdom.”

Citing the Pope, Mayugba said it is part of the search for “saints next door.” – Rappler.com