Scribd
Upload
368 views3 pages

Historical Analysis of Philippine History

The document discusses the retraction of Jose Rizal, a Philippine nationalist and writer. It summarizes the major arguments regarding the authenticity and meaning of Rizal's alleged retraction of his anti-Catholic ideas on his deathbed. There are four common attitudes toward the retraction: 1) Rizal was truly converted at the end, as the Catholic Church maintains; 2) the retraction was a lie as Rizal was a lifelong non-believer; 3) the pre-retraction Rizal is more important so the retraction can be ignored; 4) objective scholarly investigation of all facts is needed to determine the truth. The document also outlines the major arguments put forth by Father Cav

Uploaded by

Spice Jumuad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
368 views3 pages

Historical Analysis of Philippine History

The document discusses the retraction of Jose Rizal, a Philippine nationalist and writer. It summarizes the major arguments regarding the authenticity and meaning of Rizal's alleged retraction of his anti-Catholic ideas on his deathbed. There are four common attitudes toward the retraction: 1) Rizal was truly converted at the end, as the Catholic Church maintains; 2) the retraction was a lie as Rizal was a lifelong non-believer; 3) the pre-retraction Rizal is more important so the retraction can be ignored; 4) objective scholarly investigation of all facts is needed to determine the truth. The document also outlines the major arguments put forth by Father Cav

Uploaded by

Spice Jumuad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Retraction of Rizal

"I retract with all my heart whatever in my words, writings, publications and
conduct has been contrary to my character as on of the Catholic
Church."

Several historians report that Rizal retracted his anti-Catholic ideas through a document. For decades,
the authenticity of Jose Rizal's retraction documents have raised issues, skepticism, and heated debates
among those who seek to know the truth regarding this controversy. However, the lack of evidence and
different statements' by significant people involved have only contributed to the complications and
uncertainty which envelope this fiery argument.

Reasons for Retraction

The introduction of Hessel (1965) conveys on how unfortunate it is that some people speak and write
about the Retraction without really knowing what Rizal did or did not retract, not sufficient attention
has been given to the mature, quite uniform and systematic religious thought of Dr. Rizal. Only when
this has been done first can one evaluate the meaningfulness of the Retraction. For some people to
retract would mean little, for they have so little to retract. He expounds
the four common attitudes toward the "Retraction" and its bearing on the life and character of Dr. Rizal:
1. There are those who insist that the Rizal to be remembered and honored is the "converted" Rizal.
This, is the official Roman Catholic position. In the only "official" book dealing with all aspects of the
Retraction ("official" in the sense that it bears the Imprimatur of Archbishop Santos), Rizal's Unfading
Glory, Father Cavanna says in the Preface:

Rizal's glory as a scholar, as a poet, as a scientist, as a


patriot, as a hero, may someday fade away, as all worldly glories, earlier or later do. But his glory of
having found at the hour of his death what unfortunately he lost for a
time, the Truth, the Way, and the Life, that will ever be
his UNFADING GLORY.

This same sentiment is echoed in the statement issued by


the Catholic Welfare Organization in 1956 and signed by the
Archbishop with regard to the Noli and the Fili:

We have to imitate him [Rizal] precisely in what he


did when he was about to crown the whole work of his
life by sealing it with his blood; we ought to withdraw, as
he courageously did in the hour of his supreme sacrifice,
"whatever in his works, writings, publications, and
conduct had been contrary to his status as a son of the
Catholic Church.

2. There are those who have argued that Rizal throughout his
mature life was a 'free thinker and unbeliever'; thus the
Retraction is of necessity a lie. This is the extreme opposite of the
Roman Catholic position. My previous writing has tried to
demonstrate that the major premise on which this thesis is based
is not true.
3. A third implied view may be summarized as follows: the Rizal
that matters is the pre-Retraction Rizal; therefore one can ignore
the Retraction. The fundamental assumption here is held by many
students and admirers of Rizal, but the conclusion does. not
necessarily follow. This brings us to the fourth possible attitude
towards the Retraction.
4. Scholarly investigation of all facets of Rizal's life and thought Is
desirable. In the interest of truth, the truth, to which Rizal gave
such passionate devotion, we have every right, and also an
obligation, to seek to know the facts with regard to the
Retraction.

Major Arguments of Retraction

Hessel (1965) argued that if scholarly research continues,


fancy may yet become acknowledged fact. Before we proceed
further it would be well to say something about bibliography and
method. More than twenty books and pamphlets, in addition to
numerous articles have been surveyed in the course of this study.
A number of writings on the Retraction merely repeat the
arguments of earlier ones and add nothing new. Others are more
sarcastic and sentimental than enlightening. But something of
value has been gained from almost all of them. The literature
belongs to two general categories:
Biography and works dealing specifically with the
Retraction. Among the biographers are: Guerrero,
Laubach, and have given the most adequate treatment of
the Retraction, the first accepting it and the other two
rejecting it.
Of works dealing specifically with the Retraction, the most
objective, scholarly and complete are those by: Pascual,
arguing against the Retraction, and Father Cavanna in its
favor. As an almost complete compendium of information
and arguments pro and con there is no book to date which
is the equal of that of Father Cavanna. The second edition
has 353 pages of text, appendices, and bibliographical
entries totaling some 123 items. Amongst other writers
consulted, special indebtedness to Collas, Ricardo Garcia,
Runes and Buenafe should be mentioned. Garcia is a
prolific popular writer in defense of the Retraction; the
other two oppose it

Hessel (1965) refers to the writings of Father Cavanna (1952) on


how it gives a well organized summary which is adopted by most
Subsequent defenders. The points which follow are based on
Cavanna with some minor modifications:

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy