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Rizal Did Not Retract - sharing
BS Psychology
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Rizal Did Not Retract
Retraction means the withdrawal of a promise, statement, or opinion. The focus of the retractionis José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, known as José Rizal. He was aFilipinonationalist. He became a writer and a member of the FilipinoPropaganda Movement whichadvocated political reforms for the colony underSpain. He was executed by the Spanish colonialgovernment for the crime ofrebellion after thePhilippine Revolution, when his writings, brokeout. Many debates have been circulation around according to the retraction of Rizal. Theresearchers believe that Rizal did not retract mainly because of the evidences that have beengathered. No original document was also found up to this date. Several historians report thatRizal retracted his anti-Catholic ideas through a document which stated: "I retract with all myheart whatever in my words, writings, publications and conduct have been contrary to mycharacter as a son of the Catholic Church document of the said retraction was given a publicviewing on May 13, 1935. It was found by Fr. Manuel A. Gracia at the Catholic hierarchy’sarchive in Manila. Contrary the original document was never shown to the public, onlyreproductions or imitations which make it an unofficial and not credible evidence of Rizal’sretraction. It was merely a replica of it are doubts of its authenticity given that there is nocertificate of Rizal's Catholic marriage to Josephine Bracken. Ricardo Pascual concluded that theretraction document that was discovered in 1935 was not in Rizal’s handwriting. Forgery of thedocument was alleged. A former President of the University of the Philippines and a prominentMason, Senator Rafael Palma, argued that a retraction is not in keeping with Rizal's characterand mature beliefs.
No masses were said for his soul or funeral that was held for Catholics
Rizal did not retract because he was not buried in a catholic cemetery in Paco but in the ground tradition of the Catholics prior to burials would have the masses for the dead, and a proper burial but onDecember 30, 1896 after the execution, Rizal’s body was brought to San Juan deDios Hospital and on the same day Rizal’s remains were buried in the Paco Cemetery in anunmarked grave. Given the idea of how Catholics are strict with their beliefs, Rizal should havehad a proper burial. On August 17, 1898, they dug up the remains of Rizal. It were kept in theRizal family house in Binondo until it was brought to the final resting place in Luneta. OnDecember 30, 1912, this was the time that a solemn ceremony was held to finally bury theremains at the monument in Luneta dedicated in memory of Rizal.
No original copy
The copy of the retraction paper that was allegedly signed by Rizal that was even kept secret andwas only published in newspapers. When Rizal’s family requested for the original copy, it wassaid that it was lost. The Rizal family was informed by the church that approximately nine toeleven days after the execution, a mass for the deceased would be given, and then the letter ofretraction would be shown to the Nevertheless, the mass was never celebrated and no letter ofretraction was shown. It had been sent to the Archbishop’s palace. This mere act proves the
Dr. Jose Rizal's retraction is a hot debate by scholars and historians even until now as to the matter that if he did really retract before his execution. There were accounts proving that Dr. Rizal did retract and accounts that he did not retract at all.
I think that Dr. Rizal, being a staunch critic of the Spanish colonial government and of the wrong doings of the Catholic Church, did not retract at all. This is because the evidences that prove he did not retract is strong. Starting with the authenticity of the retraction document, Dr. Rizal allegedly signed it and the contents of the document was published in the newspapers. Upon knowing of what Dr. Rizal did, his family requested to see the original document so that they can verify whether it was his handwriting or not and yet the Jesuit priests said that they lost the document. In 1935, 39 years after Dr. Rizal's execution, the Catholic Church found in their archives what they claim to be the "original" document of Dr. Rizal's retraction, Dr. Ricardo Pascual sought permission from the archbishop to examine the document, he identified inconsistencies in the handwriting and the format of the document that it was not of Dr. Rizal's own way of writing and he concluded that the document is but a forgery. In the case of the authenticity of the document alone, it is already doubtable whether it was really legitimate or more if it really existed. Another evidence that proves that Dr. Rizal did not retract is that when he allegedly signed the document, one of his terms was to be wed with Josephine Bracken which the Catholic Church says that they were wed a day before Rizal was executed, however, there were no evidences of public records or a marriage certificate of Dr. Rizal and Bracken to prove that he was wed and did retract. If Dr. Rizal did so, his family would have known of it immediately because he would have told them the truth in his communication letter to them and when they saw him before he was executed but there were no mentions of his retraction and that is why the family was seeking the original document because they do not believe thay Dr. Rizal did retract all of his life's works.
Analyzing the pieces of evidences on the matter results to the question of why would Dr. Rizal retract all his works when those works of his was meant to expose the atrocities of both the Spanish Colonial Government and the Catholic Church at the time in controlling the Filipino when all of his life, he fought the same institutions that imprisoned him, it is in no doubt an indirect admission of guilt by both the Spanish Colonial Government and the Catholic Church to silence their critic. Another point is that of the contents of the Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell), which sparked and ignited the lives of Filipinos to stand up and fight against the Spaniards, it is very contradictory to the retraction document that he allegedly signed because the Mil Ultimo Adios proves that Dr. Rizal loved his country and remained defiant until his death against the oppressors of his country and his countrymen
lunchtime, with Rizal still undecided over whether to sign the retraction letter or not. The Jesuits went straight to the archbishop’s palace and informed their superiors of what had transpired during their first meeting with Rizal. Frs. Balaguer and Vilaclara returned to Rizal around 3 o’clock in the afternoon and tried until sunset to persuade him to recant. They were still not able to convince him to sign the retraction document. Their third meeting with Rizal took place at 10 o’clock that night, and it was during this meeting that they showed Rizal the two retraction templates Fr. Pi had given them. According to Fr. Balaguer, Rizal found the first template unacceptable because it was too long and its language and style were not reflective of his personality. So Fr. Balaguer withdrew it and offered the shorter one. Rizal did not sign it right away because he was uncomfortable with the statement “I abominate Masonry as a society reprobated by the Church.” Rizal wanted to emphasize that Philippine Masonry was not hostile to Catholicism and that Masonry in London did not require its members to renounce their faith. The Jesuits allowed Rizal to revise the retraction template, and his final version read, “I abominate Masonry as the enemy of the Church and reprobated by the same Church” (Cavanna 1956, 9). After making other minor changes to the draft, Rizal together with
Señor Fresno, chief of the picket, and Señor Moure, adjutant of the plaza signed the retraction letter before midnight. After which, Fr. Balaguer handed it over to Fr. Pi, who in turn submitted it to Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda.
On the other hand, Rafael Palma, a prominent Mason, disputed the veracity of the document of the alleged retraction because it did not reflect Rizal’s true character and beliefs. He regarded the resurrected retraction story as a “pious fraud”. Where, according to his analysis, the retraction of Rizal was hearsay with the following reasons: First, the documents of retraction were kept secret so that no one except the authorities was able to see it that time. Secondly, when the family of Rizal ask for the original copy of the document as well as the certificate of canonical marriage with Josephine Bracken, bot petitions were denied. Third, Rizal’s burial was kept secret, in spite of what Rizal meant to the Filipinos and of what his conversion meant, no masses were said for his soul or funeral held by Catholics. Notwithstanding that Rizal was reconciled with the church, he was not buried in the Catholic cemetery of Paco but in the ground, without any cross or stone to mark his grave. And, in the entry of the entry in the book of burials of the interment of Rizal’s body is not made on the page those buried on December 30, 1896, instead he was considered among persons died impenitent with no spiritual aid. Lastly, there was no moral motive for the conversion.
To conclude, whether or not Jose Rizal retracted, the researchers believe that the retraction document was more of Rizal taking a moral courage to recognize his mistakes. Perhaps it may be true that he retracted and reverted to his faith, but this does not diminish Rizal’s stature as a great hero with such greatness. As mentioned the documentary entitled “Ang Bayaning Third World”, Joel Torre’s impersonation of Rizal told the time travellers that whether he retracted or not, it does change what he has already done and what his writings have already achieved. Furthermore, former Senator Jose Diokno once stated, "Surely whether Rizal died as a Catholic or an apostate adds or detracts nothing from his greatness as a Filipino. Catholic or Mason, Rizal is still Rizal - the hero who courted death "to prove to those who deny our patriotism that we know how to die for our duty and our beliefs".
Rizal Did Not Retract - sharing
Course: BS Psychology
University: Polytechnic University of the Philippines
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