VATICAN CITY, ROME — Pope Francis has declared Filipino Archbishop Teofilo Camomot “venerable,” advancing his cause for sainthood following a meeting with Congregation for the Causes of Saints prefect Cardinal Marcello Semeraro on Saturday, May 21, 2022.
“On May 21, 2022 the Holy Father Pope Francis authorized Marcello Cardinal Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints in the Vatican, to promulgate a decree on the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Archbishop Teofilo Bastide Camomot, granting him the title of Venerable,” the archdiocese said in a statement.
Venerable is a title that is given to a deceased person recognized formally by the pope as having lived a heroically virtuous life or offered their life.
Archbishop Camomot was born in Carcar and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cebu in 1941.
He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Jaro in Iloilo province in 1955. He was then named coadjutor archbishop of Cagayan de Oro three years later, in 1958.
In November 1959, the Cebuano prelate established the Carmelite Tertiaries of the Blessed Eucharist in Misamis Occidental. It was later known as the Congregation of Santa Teresa.
After serving as coadjutor archbishop in Cagayan de Oro for 12 years, he resigned and returned to Cebu in 1970.
He died in a car accident on September 27, 1988, at the age of 74.
Camomot’s religious congregation, the Daughters of St. Teresa, had previously petitioned for the opening of a cause for the beatification and canonization of the Cebuano archbishop.
He was also “known for his fame of sanctity during his life, his death and after his death.”
On October 15, 2010, then-Archbishop of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal announced that the Holy See had approved the opening of the cause for Camomot’s beatification and canonization. After that, a diocesan inquiry was then made.
Camomot needs a miracle to become “blessed” and another miracle to be declared a Catholic Church saint.
Since Camomot’s cause for sainthood started, the late archbishop has been termed as a “Servant of God.” – WhatALife!
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