A teenager Darwin Ramos, whose affliction did not stop him from working for the poor, has been declared a “Servant of God,” the first step for a person whom the Catholic Church is considering for sainthood.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) made the announcement through a website post on Friday.
CBCP said Vatican’s Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints Cardinal Angelo Becciu made the Declaration of Servant of God on March 29.
The next steps towards sainthood are Declaration of Venerable, Declaration of Blessed, and Canonization.
The CBCP also said that Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao started the process at the request of The Friends of Darwin Ramos Association.
“The Vatican has given us the go signal to go deeper in his life, how he lived his faith, and how he gave witness to Jesus to whom he was very close,” Ongtioco was quoted in CBCP’s report as saying.
Ramos was born and grew up in the slums of Pasay City, where he worked as a scavenger to help his family.
He suffered from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder which causes muscles to degenerate and weaken.
Even if Ramos could no longer stand after his conditioned worsen, he got involved in many initiatives and programs for street children.
He died on Sept. 23, 2012 at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City. He was only 17.
