For the past few years, I have been studying some of the Rizalista sects in Mount Makiling, Mount Banahaw , and Mount Arayat . These Rizalista sects worship Jose Rizal as God. They call Rizal in a variety of names: the Tagalog Christ, the Jove Rex Al, the Son of God, Amang Doktor, Amang Rizal, and so on.
One time, while on discussion about Rizal’s various mystical powers, one ageing Rizalista seriously told me that Rizal could also be considered the Filipino Buddha because he was the first Filipino to attain enlightenment. You could imagine my amusement thinking about Rizal sitting in Buddha-like position trying to achieve Nirvana!
It amused me because some years back, I was asked by a young smart-aleck student if Rizal could be considered for sainthood since he died a martyr’s death. I remember answering that Rizal will never be canonized by the Catholic Church since during his life, Rizal attacked the Catholic Church. But then again in more enlightened retrospect, I knew I made a mistake, because Rizal never attacked the Catholic Church itself, but rather the bad practices in it.
Nevertheless, the thought of Jose Rizal becoming a saint was a rather cool idea. I wanted to find out if there were some people in the past who may have lobbied for Rizal’s sainthood. My research led me to some dusty shelves in the Filipiniana section of the National Library where I asked a bespectacled librarian if there was ever a book or a monograph about a move to beatify Jose Rizal.
The bewildered librarian looked at me as if I had just come from outer space, and perhaps considered me as one of those rabid Rizalistas who invade the library every now and then to research on the divinity of God Rizal. Then she told me that there was no such a thing. As consolation for my weird research, she handed me Rudy Astronomo’s Kristong Kayumanggi (Tagalog Christ), which of course, I already read many times before, the book being freely given in many Rizalista churches.
I went home and totally forgot about St. Jose Rizal. Then one evening, while browsing some old newspapers in my collection, I came across an old Renacimiento newspaper from 1903. It contained news of Jose Rizal canonization in the Philippine Independent Catholic Church or more widely known as the Aglipayan Church . Indeed, unknown to most of us, Jose Rizal was canonized as a saint on September 24, 1903 by the Aglipayan Church .
This canonization of Rizal was not, of course, recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, since the Aglipayan Church was a breakaway Catholic group. Nevertheless, this was the very first known act of any organized religion in the Philippines to venerate Rizal as a saint, making him as the first Filipino saint! Consequently, after Rizal’s canonization, hymns and prayers were composed in his honor, and his birth and death anniversaries became important feast days. Rizal’s pictures and statuettes were placed in the altars of Aglipayan churches.
It is important to note, however, that at present, the Aglipayan Church has already ceased to recognize Rizal as saint. According to present Aglipayan Bishop Rev. Fr. Efraim Fajutagana, Rizal’s sainthood was revoked in the 1950s, since it was only done during the nationalistic phase of their church—that is, during the early years of their separation from the Catholic Church. So at present, the church no longer celebrates the feast days of Saint Jose Rizal, although they still recognize Rizal as the foremost Philippine hero.
The question now is: in the light of Rizal’s unjust execution (like Joan de Arc who became St. Joan of Arc), if it’s now possible for the Roman Catholic Church to beatify Rizal and elevate him to the official roster of Catholic saints. Since the Catholic Church claimed that Rizal retracted his “errors in faith” shortly before his death, then it can be argued that it is already high time for the Catholic Church to retract its own condemnation of Rizal as enemy of the church. This would be complicated, as anti-retractionists would argue that Rizal did not retract because he had nothing to retract.
Nevertheless, immaterial to whether Rizal retracted or not, the issue is clear: Rizal was unjustly executed partly because of the role played by the Catholic Church. So the first thing the Catholic Church should consider is to issue a long-due apology for its role in the martyrdom of Rizal. As a Catholic and Rizalist, I feel that this is a just demand because our greatest hero was wrongly executed. For the record, Spain already issued an official apology for executing Rizal. Now, a Rizal monument similar to the one we have in the Luneta stands in the heart of Madrid.
Rizal’s retraction would no longer be the issue here but the Church’s retraction. But I guess it would be very unlikely since the Church as an institution has not admitted errors, just as in the Middle Ages--during the Inquisition—it committed serious errors in executing so many innocent people.
Hence, I believe that Jose Rizal joining the ranks of the Catholic saints would be a remote possibility at present. Nonetheless, for the Rizalistas, it does not matter: God Rizal always sounded better than St. Jose Rizal.
*This article originally published here at the Philippine Online Chronicles.
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