Rizal's Retraction

If Rizal had retracted from his attacks against the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church, and if, according to his Catholic biographer Leon M. Guerrero, Rizal had gone to confession four times, heard mass in his death-cell, and received holy communion before he was executed, then Rizal should be branded a traitor to all freedom fighters. He deserves not to be respected or admired as a hero. He should, instead, be worship as a saint. But then again, if Rizal had retracted, why then should the church feel dedicated as its friars feel consecrated to get Rizal’s true character expunged out of the Filipino psyche? The truth of the matter was that the Church did everything possible to counteract Rizal’s honest-to-goodness scientific temper of mind. Indeed, in his Noli and Fili, Rizal exposed the Philippine damaged culture caused by organized superstition otherwise known as Christianity. Thus, the story of his retraction was nothing more than a theological concoction to sanitize, if not to lower the volume of Rizal’s intellectual messages. Poch Suzara