Position Paper
Retraction of Rizal: Did he or Did not?
I. Authors
Ricardo Pascual
Dr. Eugene A. Hessel
Father Vicente Balaguer
Fr. Pio Pi
II. Rizal did Retract
The retraction was believed to be true of the Roman Catholic
[Link] an intend to be deceptive to the anti-retractionist.
The said letter contains that Jose Rizal proclaimed himself a Catholic
and that he withdrawn everything he had said, written, published and
did against the Catholic Church.
The Retraction Document was discovered in 1935, it is considered the
chief witness to the reality of the retraction.
According to Father Balaguer 's testimony, Rizal was given a prayer
book after the signing of the Retraction. "He took the prayer book,
slowly read the acts, approved them, and took the pen and the sad
'Credo' (I believe) he signed the acts with his name in the book itself."
His Roman Catholic Marriage to Josephine Bracken, as indicated by
"witnesses." Without retraction, there will be no union.
Nearly two years before his execution, Rizal wrote a retraction in
Dapitan. Early in 1895, Josephine Bracken came to Dapitan with her
adopted father, who decided to be cured of his blindness by Dr. Rizal;
their guide was Manuela Orlac, who was an agent and a friar's
mistress.
De la Imitación de Cristo y Menosprecio del Mundo por el V. Tomas de
Kempis. This is one of the many books the friar left in Rizal 's cell to
read and learn about his Catholic beliefs. Rizal's copy of this book,
currently on display at the National Museum of Fine Arts (Gallery V, 1st
Floor), is stated to have been given to him by Padre Pablo Pastells.
The book is left to Josephine Bracken, to whom he addressed as his
"wife"
Certified true copy in the Archdiocesan Archives Office of Manila. It
was noted and checked in Ocampo 's book (2012) that the initial
edition of the retraction paper was in the possession of the
Archdiocese of Manila. It was discovered on May 18, 1935, after the
disappearance of Rizal.
Cuerpo de Vigilancia’s Detailing of the Events. Reported by Federico
Moreno, a scheduled guard during Rizal 's detention in Fort Santiago.
He narrates: Rizal needed a prayer book that was soon delivered to
him by Father Estanislao March. He heard Rizal write "Ang
Retractacion" on a small piece of paper.
III. Rizal did not Retract
After the analyzation of six Rizal 's key papers, Ricardo Pascual
concluded that the retraction text, which had been found in 1935, was
not in Rizal 's handwriting.
The Retraction itself is that the substance is, in part, oddly worded, e.g.
in the Catholic faith, "I want to live and die," but there was no time to
live, and even Rizal 's argument that his retraction was "spontaneous."
They understood that if he had withdrawn, he would definitely have
said so if he could still communicate with his mother on the tragic day
of his execution. Yet, they receive nothing about retraction and
marriage.
There is the confession of the forger. Antonio K. Abad tells how, on
August 13, 1901, at a party in his ancestral home in San Isidro, Nueva
Ecija, a certain Roman Roque told how he had been hired by the Friars
earlier the same year to make some copies of the retraction text.
IV. Position
José Rizal is our national hero and one of those who used his mind to fight for
our people. I assume that Rizal had really withdrawn from wshat he had
written, that even though he had put his signature in the message, no one
would know that it was valid, because for me, people would only think that it
was an assault by the friars against Rizal. And that's where Rizal shows his
mastery incredibly. He just used it as a marriage license. He may have
assumed that nothing might be lost, but even though he wrote the note, the
written words would not be able to overshadow what he actually felt inside.
That is why I believe that Rizal has indeed withdrawn, but his renunciation in
his letter will never his loyalty to his country. Whether or not Rizal had
retracted against the Church, his work had already given rise to the spirit of
independence and nationalism.
V. Sources
Did Rizal Retract?
[Link] m
Dr. Eugene A. Hessel. Rizal's Retraction: A Note on the Debate.
[Link]
Rizal's Last Hours
[Link]
Analysis Rizal's Retraction
[Link]
“Rizal’s Retraction: Real or Rip-Off?”: An Investigatory Project on the Validity
of the Retraction Documents of Jose Rizal
[Link]
Off
Santos, T. 2011. Rizal’s retraction: Truth vs Myth.
[Link]/news/20111004/rizals_retraction_truth_vs_myth accessed
October 5, 2020
