By LIBERTITO PELAYO

History’s first globetrotting Pope John Paul II made two well-attended trips to the Philippines in 1981 and 1995.

Both visits further endeared the Pope to millions of Filipinos who are the dominant Roman Catholics in all of Asia.

In his first visit to Manila on Feb. 8, 1981, the Pope presided at the beatification rites for 16 martyred Filipino Catholics led by San Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint canonized in Rome, six years later.

A delegation of Filipinos from across the seas travelled to Rome on that fateful day on Oct. 18, 1987.

We were with the New York-New Jersey delegation on that scorching day outside St. Peter’s Basilica to witness San Lorenzo’s sainthood.

You could notice a sea of Philippine miniature flags proudly waving in the torrid sun, punctuated by boisterous cries of “Viva San Lorenzo!” “Viva il Papa!”

However, the canonization of San Lorenzo did not happen overnight. The campaign to have him beatified — the final step to sainthood — was long and arduous.

There were legions of clergy and laity who worked ceaselessly to have the first Filipino saint in the hallowed history of the Catholic Church.

To name a few would be a disservice to many more who helped, sometimes anonymously.

Some of the more vocal supporters were hundreds of San Lorenzo Ruiz associations organized in the United States and other parts of the world.

While these associations started with the noble purpose of glorifying San Lorenzo, they later broke up into competing groups — which is sad to say the least.

Strikingly, their devotion to San Lorenzo remains undiminished even though their approaches may vary.

About San Lorenzo

Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Manila, in the Binondo section, in 1600 to a Chinese father and a Tagalog mother, according to an entry in the Centennial Reporter, published in 1998 by the Filipino Reporter.

In his youth he worked as a clerk in Binondo Church, got married and had two sons and a daughter.

In 1636, he left Manila for Japan with four other Dominican missionaries and one Japanese layman.

There was turmoil in Japan at that time and Christians were being tortured and persecuted.

While propagating Christianity, he was arrested and tortured. But instead of renouncing his faith, he proclaimed he would rather die.

He was hanged on Sept. 27, 1637 after two days of suffering.

His feast day falls on Sept. 28..