Cardinal Tagle to Offer Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral Marking 40 Years of San Lorenzo Ruiz Devotion

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Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will celebrate a Mass marking the 40th anniversary of San Lorenzo Ruiz devotion in the United States at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Wednesday, June 1, at 10 a.m.

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, will be principal concelebrant.

Cardinal Tagle is a Filipino prelate who has served as prefect of the Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples since 2019. He holds a doctorate in sacred theology from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

San Lorenzo Ruiz, the patron saint of the Philippines, is a Chinese Filipino recognized for his martyrdom after his execution in Japan by the Tokugawa Shogunate during its persecution of Christians. He was 42 when he died in 1637.

San Lorenzo Ruiz was beatified during Pope John Paul II’s papal visit to the Philippines in 1981 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in Vatican City in 1987.

Father Erno Diaz, who retired in 2015, served as coordinator of the Filipino Apostolate in the archdiocese, 1995-2009.

“God Almighty has blessed the Philippines with 500 years of Christianity that, in His Divine Providence, produced its first saint in the person of San Lorenzo Ruiz,” Father Diaz said. 

“In America, particularly in New York, 40 years of devotion to San Lorenzo has been a time of grace.”

Information/reservations: (646) 466-8761, sanlorenzo40th@gmail.com