The year 1969 marked a shift in how the Catholic Church remembered Saint Pudentiana. Her feast day moved from May 19th to a different date on the General Roman Calendar. This change reflected growing uncertainty among historians about her existence.
Early accounts describe Saint Pudentiana as the daughter of Saint Pudens, who was a friend of the Apostles. The Martyrology of Reichenau lists her as a Roman virgin of the early church and claims she was the sister of Praxedes. Modern researchers find no independent proof for either Pudentiana or her sister Praxedes.
Saint Pudentiana is said to rest next to her father Pudens in the Priscilla catacombs along the via Salaria road outside ancient Rome. Archaeologists have identified the Priscilla catacombs as an actual underground network used by early Christians. No inscription definitively links the body of Saint Pudentiana to any specific chamber there.
Miguel López de Legazpi declared Saint Pudentiana patroness of Manila on the 19th of May 1571. He gained possession of the territory on that same date which coincided with her feast day. Pope Pius XII issued an Apostolic Letter on the 12th of September 1942 confirming her status as secondary patroness alongside Rose of Lima.
An unrelated ancient town in the Roman province of Numidia shares the name Pudentiana and appears among titular sees listed in the Annuario Pontificio for 2013. Two holders of this titular see later became cardinals within the Catholic Church hierarchy including Mario Casariego y Acevedo and Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga. The connection exists purely through administrative records rather than shared history with the Roman martyr.