Saint Jose Rizal

For the past few years, I have been studying some of the Rizalista sects
in Mount Makiling, Mount Banahaw, and Mount Arayat. These sects worship Jose
Rizal as God. They call Rizal by a variety of names: the Tagalog Christ, the Jove Rex
Al, the Son of God, Amang Doktor, Amang Rizal, and so on.
One time, in a discussion about Rizals 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 a Buddha-like position trying to achieve Nirvana!
It amused me because some years back, I was asked by a young smart-alecky student
if Rizal could be considered for sainthood since he died a martyrs death. I remember
answering that Rizal will never be canonized by the Catholic Church because he
attacked the Catholic Church. But then again, in retrospect, I knew I made a mistake,
because Rizal actually 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 could
just imagine Rizal in white robes rather than his usual thick winter overcoat. I wanted to
find out if there were some people in the past who may have lobbied for Rizals
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 monograph about a move to beatify Jose Rizal.
The bewildered librarian looked at me as if I came from outer space, thinking perhaps I
was 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 there was no such a thing. As consolation
for my weird research, she handed me Rudy Astronomos Kristong Kayumanggi, which
of course, I already read many times before, as it is 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
Filipino newspaper from 1903. It contained news of Jose Rizals canonization as a saint
in the Philippine Independent Catholic Church (PIC), 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, acknowledged by the Roman Catholic
Church, since the Aglipayan Church is 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. Consequently, after Rizals canonization, hymns and prayers were
composed in his honor, and his birth and death anniversaries became important feast
days. Rizals pictures and statuettes were placed in the altars of Aglipayan churches.
Notably, however, the Aglipayan Church has ceased to recognize Rizal as saint.
According to Aglipayan Bishop Rev. Fr. Efraim Fajutagana, present bishop of PIC,
Rizals sainthood was revoked in the 1950s, since it was "done during the nationalistic
phase of the church" that is, during the early years of its separation from the Catholic
Church. So at present, it no longer celebrates the feast days of Saint Jose Rizal,
although the members still recognize Rizal as the foremost Philippine hero.
The question now is: In the light of Rizals unjust execution (like Joan de Arc who
became St. Joan of Arc), is it 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, it can be argued
that it is 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, one thing is clear: Rizal was
unjustly executed partly because of the Catholic Churchs influence. Thus, the Catholic
Church might consider issuing 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. Today, a
Rizal monument similar to the one we have in the Luneta stands in the heart of Madrid.
Rizals retraction may no longer be the issue here but rather the Churchs retraction. But
I guess this is very unlikely to happen since the Church, as an institution, has not
admitted to mistakes, including those it committed in executing so many innocent
people in the Middle Ages.
Hence, I believe that Jose Rizal's canonization would be a remote possibility at present.
Nonetheless, for the Rizalistas, it does not matter. God Rizal has always sounded better
than St. Jose Rizal.