5 lay Filipinos receive papal awards for church service

Papal honors will be given to five lay Filipino Catholics in recognition of their outstanding service to the church.

Four women will receive the cross “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice” and a layman will become a knight in the Order of St. Sylvester. All of them are from the Balanga diocese.

The Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice is the highest medal lay people can receive from the pope.

Its awardees are Digna Calina, Maria Basilia Garcia, Sonia Rufin and Leticia Vizcayno. Victor Quezon, meanwhile, will receive the fourth highest of the five pontifical orders of knighthood in the Catholic Church.

Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga said the diocese is “blessed” to have recipients of the papal honors.

“It is a gift from the pope. This is indeed a huge inspiration for us to share God’s immense goodness,” Santos said.

“This also serves as encouragement for others to persevere in their Christian living in spite of trials of life and temptations to go against the teachings of the Church,” he said.

The conferment of papal awards, the prelate said, will be announced in the coming months. (CBCP News)

A version of this article was first published on CBCP News.