JOSE RIZAL’S RETRACTION

Dr. José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, the national hero of the
Philippines, is still one big mystery until now. Whether he is retracted anti-
Catholic ideas or not. I am wondering if he revocked everything and said against
the Spanish-led Catholic Church. Many say that Rizal converted to the church
before his execution, but some say otherwise.
Based on the readings, several historians report that Rizal retracted his
anti-Catholic ideas through a document which stated: “I retract with all my heart
whatever in my words, writings, publications and conduct have been contrary to
my character as a son of the Catholic Church.” But there are doubts that there is
no certificate of Rizal’s Catholic marriage to Josephine Bracken, his wife. Also,
there is an issue that the retraction document was fake. Others like to believe
that the retraction of Rizal was invented by the friars to deflect the heroism of
Rizal which was centered on the friar abuses.
As for the arguments of the believers of retraction, there were evidence
presented. Dr. Augusto De Viana, head of UST’s Department of History that had
somewhat presented his arguments. He believes that Rizal retracted and just
claim from the freemasonry and not from his works. He pointed out that it is not
possible to forge his retraction letter because there were said to be witnesses
during the signing of Rizal and that the evidence speaks for itself.
Whether the argument or the evidence were true, I believe that Rizal was a
believer of God, from the very start and up to his last moments. I believe that
Rizal is just a human in character and not a perfect person, he had flaws. I believe
that Rizal wanted to be at peace when he dies and that’s why there was
retraction. He might have wavered on the Catholic teachings, but he never once
wavered on his faith with God. He had always faith in Him but he strongly
disagreed of the ways who ran the church and the government during the Spanish
era.
 I think we just must appreciate what Rizal has done for our country. He
opened the eyes of the Filipinos on the cruelty of the Spanish era. He awakened
our knowledge of nationalism and that is enough. I learned to have respect every
decision he made. He is the National Hero of the Philippines, Dr. José Protasio
Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda.