Philippine Gothic Series Part III: The Skull of Dr. Jose Rizal

Philippine Gothic Series Part III: The Skull of Dr. Jose Rizal—who once upon a time a canonized SAINT of La Iglesia Filipina Independiente.

Image: W. E. Retana. Vida y Escritos del Dr. Jose Rizal. 1907. p. num. 15. Lopez Museum and Library. For research call us at 6312425.

Nowadays Dr. Jose Rizal is absent from the Philippine Independent Church's (Aglipayan Church) ceremonies restricted for saints. Rizal’s birthday and death anniversary are no longer celebrated, and one can no longer see the statue or even picture of Rizal upon the altars of the PIC.

National Historical Commission of the Philippines: Jose Rizal: A Hero-Saint?
Read More: http://nhcp.gov.ph/jose-rizal-a-hero-saint-2/

How did Rizal become a saint? Wenceslao E. Retana, a noted Spanish Filipinologist and biographer of Rizal, was the first to mention Rizal’s canonization. Retana cited the “Acta de Canonizacion de los grandes Martires de la Patria Dr. Rizal y PP. Burgos, Gomez y Zamora” (Proceedings of the Canonization of the Great Martyrs of the Country Dr. Rizal and Fathers Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora) published in Madrid in 1907 in his account of the canonization of Rizal. The Acta was published in the official organ of the sect, La Iglesia Filipina Independiente in 1903.

According to the Acta, the Council of Bishops met in Manila on September 24, 1903 but there was no mention of where they met. It was the Secretary General, Bishop Isidoro Perez who presented to the Council the canonization of heroes Dr. Jose Rizal, Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora. By anonymous decision, Rizal and the three priests were canonized following the Roman Catholic rites.

The proceedings of this canonization were recorded in the book of proceedings of the Independent Church and were signed by the following bishops: Gregorio Aglipay, the Secretary General Bishop Isidoro Perez of Cagayan, and Bishops Ponciano Manuel of Pangasinan, Gregorio Dizon of Zambales and Pampanga, Fortunato Clemeña of Cavite, Ramon Farolan of Abra and others.