Pontificio Collegio Filippino

Retablo of Filipino Saints by the Filipino sculptor Wilfredo Layug in the crypt chapel of Pontficio Collegio Filippino. It depicts the indigenous religious art of Filipino Catholics, combining elements of the cultures of both the West and the Orient.

The college is at 490 Via Aurelia on a 238,933.44 square metres (285,762.02 sq yd) lot between the Collegio Pio-Brasiliano and the Villa Pacelli, in a suburb of Rome. The four-story building was designed by Edoardo Cherubini in a 1060s contemporary design.

On canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod, the second Filipino saint, a commemorative retablo was made by Filipino sculptor Wilfredo Layug from Betis, Guagua, Pampanga,[2] for the chapel at the crypt of the college. Both "relleba" (relief murals) of the retablo depict Sts. Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod being tortured by pagans to force them to renounce their faith. St. Lorenzo Ruiz was executed in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1637, while St. Pedro Calungsod was killed together with Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores in 1672 in Tumhon, Guam.[2] In the mural of St. Pedro Calungsod, Layug carved the image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, the Patroness of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino. The angels are Filipina women garbed in baro and saya (native Filipino blouse and skirt), done in estofado, a detailed carving style that gives the image the look of real clothes.[2] Bamboo is a constant motif in the Retablo.[2]

Cardinal Rufino Santos proposed establishing the college during the meeting of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines on January 26–31, 1959. His plan was supported by the Philippine bishops and approved by the Vatican. On August 8, 1959, Pope John XXIII personally blessed the cornerstone for the building in the private study of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. Cardinal Santos and Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See, José María Delgado, witnessed the event. The following day, Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo laid the cornerstone on the site of the edifice in the presence of 70 Cardinals, diplomats, Superiors General, seminary and university rectors and other distinguished personalities.[3] Pope John XXIII blessed and inaugurated the modern edifice on October 7, 1961 at the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.[4]

• Pontificio Collegio Filippino