RIZAL, THE FRIARS AND THE CATHOLIC

CHURCH: An Exchange with an Anti-

Catholic

The horrors were done by abusive Spanish government official and some friars but to implicate
Catholicism is too much stretch of imagination. Abusus non tollit usum. Abuses conducted by erring
friars can’t be used to discredit the Church because these people committed abusive acts in
disobedience to the Church’s teachings. You have not proven that the Church officially teaches its
members to abuse people. For your argument to hold water, you have to show to us that abusing
people is a doctrine in the Church which all Catholics are bound to do. Show me the exact provision in
the Catechism of the Catholic Church which provides for this. Until you do that, all your talk is just
garbage.

Don’t you know that it is actually the Church which fought for the rights of native Filipinos during that
time, not atheist and not protestants? It is because of the Church that the Spanish Colonial Government
freed slaves. (aliping sagigilid &aliping namamahay) The Church worked for the passage of humane laws
protecting the rights of natives such as the Law of Burgos, Law of Valladolid, and Leyes Nuevas. Added to
this is the decree of Pope Gregory XIV which threatens with excommunication those who refuse to free
their slaves in the Philippines:

“In a decree dated 18 April 1591 (Bulla Cum Sicuti), Gregory XIV ordered reparations to be made by
Catholics in the Philippines to the natives, who had been forced into slavery by Europeans, AND HE
COMMANDED UNDER PAIN OF EXCOMMUNICATION OF THE OWNERS THAT ALL NATIVE SLAVES IN THE
ISLANDS BE SET FREE.”

Bishop Salazar reported the abuses of encomienderos in Ibalon (Bicol) resulting to its abolition and
creation of provinces such as Albay and Sorsogon:

“Ibalon had a port call for galleon plying the Manila-Acapulco route. Historians believed that this could
be what is now known as the port of Legazpi City. It was at this port that Bishop Salazar, the first bishop
assigned to the Philippines was stranded for the few weeks during he was able to learn the abuses of
encomienderos.

IT WAS BELIEVED THAT THE REPORT OF BISHOP SALAZAR COULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE CAUSES FOR
THE ABOLITION OF THE ENCOMIENDA SYSTEM IN IBALON, thus, paving the way for the birth of two
original Bicol provinces- AMBOS CAMARINES which included Albay and Sorsogon.”
You see, it’s the Church who protected the natives against abuses of colonial government, not atheists
and not protestants. Obviously, you are riding on Rizal’s earlier works to attack the Church but
unfortunately, the man retracted and died a Catholic. Proof to that is the fact that he was given Holy
Communion before his execution, something that is not given to heretics and masons:

“3:00 ng umaga ng Disyembre 30, 1896, NAKINIG NG MISA SI RIZAL, NANGUMPISAL, AT

NANGUMUNYON.”

[Gregorio & Sonia Zaide, Jose Rizal Centennial Book (Quezon City: All Nations Publishing, 1999) p. 328]

Rizal died a Catholic, not as an atheist and definitely not as a member of man-made protestant
churches.

[Vince Leonard: We are blessed to have him wrote the history to let us be awakened even to the point
of his death.]

Yes, that’s why Rizal wrote in his Datos para mi Defensa during his trial in 1896:

“Quite a long time ago, in July 1887, certain Japanese personalities asked me why were we not rising up
in arms, saying that they would help us, etc. I ANSWERED THAT WE WERE WELL OFF WITH SPAIN, AND
DID NOT LIKE TO BE SHIFTED FROM ONE HAND TO ANOTHER; THAT IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING, FOR
THREE CENTURIES WE HAD BEEN UNITED WITH SPAIN BY ONE AND THE SAME RELIGION AND BY BONDS
OF LOVE AND GRATITUDE, FACTORS NOT EXISTING IN ANY OTHER NATION. They replied that Japan, with
no interest whatsoever in the Philippines, would help only on account of race relationships. I smile at
that, demonstrating from history that their ancestors had not thought that way. What I say is absolutely
true.”

[Luis Lisa and Javier De Pedro, Romance and Revolution: A Look into the Lives and Times of Jose Rizal
and Josephine Bracken (Pasig City: University of Asia and the Pacific, 2010) p. 200]

Eduardo de Lete, a friend of Rizal, called Datos para mi Defensa or simply Defensa as “most important
and unique document” in an article he wrote in El Renacimiento on 22 September 1906. According to
J.M. Cavanna in his “Rizal and the Philippines of His Days,” Defensa is the “Magna Carta” of Rizal’s
patriotic ideals which he wrote to defend himself, his works and principles before the court and to a
larger sense, before the tribunal of history. Lisa and De Pedro also added that Defensa is the “final
product in the evolution of his [Rizal] thought.” It is very clear. Rizal himself said that Filipinos under
Spain were well off as compared to other countries because they are united by one religion for three
centuries. And that religion is no other than the Catholic Church. Between you and Rizal, I believed Rizal
more.

Furthermore, in Rizal’s letter to Blumentritt dated 05 March 1887, he explained his intentions in writing
Noli Me Tangere:

“I have unmasked the hypocrisy which under the cloak of religion has impoverished and brutalized us. I
have tried to show the difference between true religion and false religion, which fosters superstition and
uses saintly words to draw our silver, TO MAKE US BELIEVE THINGS WHICH THE TRUE CATHOLIC
RELIGION WOULD NEVER SANCTION IF IT ONLY KNEW.”

Rizal wrote his novel to expose men in the Church who used religion to abuse Filipinos. Notice that Rizal
made a distinction between true religion and false religion. The true Catholic Church will never sanction
the abuses perpetrated erring friars according to Rizal.

[Vince Leonard: Can’t we see how hard to express or protest before, even him wrote history in terms of
fictional characters just to convey the message.]

And Rizal also made the character of Padre Florentino, a Filipino priest whom Simoun confessed his sins
with:

“THE CONFESSION WAS LONG AND TEDIOUS, BUT DURING THE WHOLE OF IT THE CONFESSOR MADE
NO FURTHER SIGN OF SURPRISE AND RARELY INTERRUPTED THE SICK MAN. IT WAS NIGHT WHEN PADRE
FLORENTINO, wiping the perspiration from his face, arose and began to meditate. Mysterious darkness
flooded the room, so that the moonbeams entering through the window filled it with vague lights and
vaporous reflections.

INTO THE MIDST OF THE SILENCE THE PRIEST’S VOICE BROKE SAD AND DELIBERATE, BUT CONSOLING:
“GOD WILL FORGIVE YOU, SENOR – SIMOUN,” he said.”

Simoun didn’t confess to protestant ministers or atheists. He confessed to Padre Florentino, meaning,
Filipino priests can be trusted. It is in the priest’s lips trhat Rizal enunciated his pacifist ideas. At the end
of El Filibusterismo, Padre Florentino throw Simoun’s treasures in to the sea to prevent inciting greed
among men. This is a clear proof that Filipino priests are not greedy.

[Vince Leonard: We have a lot of things to learn from this guy. Without him we would not have learned
the oppression. ]
But you missed the point. Rizals novels were written to highlight the evils of the society during his time.
Although there are good things happening in the country at that time, Rizal did not intend to include
these in his novels. In other words, Rizal’s novels are almost one-sided portrayals of the colonial period.

J.M. Cavanna made an interesting observation: that Rizal put together in his novels, in one single plot
and setting “the social evils that in reality might have been found scattered, occasional in different
places and times.” [Fr. Marciano Malvar Guzman, The Truth about Rizal Essays by a Great-Grandnephew
(Manila: Green Street Enterprises, 1995) pp. 8-9]

To use his novels to paint a complete portrait of Philippine society will be a mistake because Rizal
himself said in his Defensa that despite of everything, we Filipinos were well off as compared to other
nations because we are united with Spain under one religion and by bonds of love and gratitude

How about the good things that the friars have done to the Philippines?

LAND USE:

“An example also of those selfless apostles in the erection of towns is perhaps the town of Tuguegarao.
Fray Hilario Ma. Oca says: … the outlay of the town is perhaps the prettiest that one can imagine. Some
20 or 30 streets drawn in a line not much longer across than lengthwise, and crossing at right angles,
form a perfect octagon; many clusters of houses, each of which has its own orchard filled with trees,
which give them a quaint beauty: ALL OF THIS THE WORK OF THE IMMORTAL FRAY LOBATO, A
RELIGIOUS OF GREAT TALENTS AND CREATIVITY.”

[Pablo Fernandez, O.P., History of the Church in the Philippines: 1521-1898 (Manila: National Book
Store, 1979) p. 238]

WATER SYSTEM:

“The Dominicans sympathized with the people who had to suffer the inconveniences of the lack of
drinking water and they sought and found in San Juan del Monte, five kilometers from the City, a source
of pure and fresh water. They channeled it to the bank of Maitunas creek, by means of an open canal in
the rocky terrain. From there, bancas transported it easily along San Juan river to Manila. The creator of
this system was the engineer-historian Fray Juan Peguero (+1690), for several years Vicar of the
Dominican Sanctuary of the Holy Cross in San Juan. THIS WORK NEEDED FOUR YEARS TO COMPLETE
1686-1690, AND SEVERAL THOUSANDS OF PESOS CHARGED TO THE ORDER.”

[Pablo Fernandez, O.P., History of the Church in the Philippines: 1521-1898 (Manila: National Book
Store, 1979) p. 220]

BRIDGES:

“The Franciscans Fray Francisco de Gata (+1591) who came to the country in 1579, dedicated himself to
the construction of bridges in the towns administered by the Franciscans in order to facilitate church-
going for the people. In Mahayhay, a town in Laguna, there were six stone bridges constructed and TO A
GREAT EXTENT PAID FOR BY THE FRANCISCANS FATHERS.

[Pablo Fernandez, O.P., History of the Church in the Philippines: 1521-1898 (Manila: National Book
Store, 1979) p. 241]

ROADS:

“Fray Lorenzo de Santa Maria (1585), a Franciscan lay brother, was perhaps the first, or one of the first,
to dedicate himself to the work of opening roads in the Philippines. He wanted to make it easy for the
Christian neophytes to come to the church, especially for mass. UNTIL HE FELL SICK, HE LABORED TO
CLEAR AREAS OVERGROWN WITH WEEDS AND FLATTEN ROUGH TERRAIN.”

[Pablo Fernandez, O.P., History of the Church in the Philippines: 1521-1898 (Manila: National Book
Store, 1979) p. 239]
How about the Friars contribution to agriculture?

“THE MISSIONARIES WERE ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW PLANTS AND ANIMALS
IN THE PHILIPPINES. These new food plants came from Mexico and Europe, such as corn, coffee, cacao,
tomato, squash, lima beans, achuete, guavas, peanuts, chico, papaya, potatoes, cincamas, cabbage,
eggplant, pineapple, sugar cane, and wheat. They also brought plants like cotton and indigo. Filipinos
learned to eat bread and drink coffee or chocolate. Other new foods introduced by Spain were beef,
sausages, ham, and Spanish sardines. In addition, from other parts of Europe came imported canned
goods like chorizo de Bilbao, olive oil, and pickles. Spain also brought into the country new animals like
goats, carabaos, cattle, horses, pigeons, swans, ducks, geese, and better breeds of chickens and
roosters.”

Link: http://patpolicarpio.blogspot.com/2010/10/contributions-of-spanish-missionaries.html

Even Nick Joaquin testified that Friars taught Filipinos to use Carabao in farming instead of using it as
food. Friars also brought here the plow which is an improvement from manual farming of the natives
and resulted to increase in production:

“…The revolution here can be appreciated if we imagine that most typical of Philippine scenes: a
carabao pulling a plow. We think this “immemorial,” but it isn’t. The pre-Hispanic carabao was a meat,
now a work, animal. Tilling, planting, gathering then were all done by hand, which necessarily limited
what a farmer could produce. THE FRIARS BROUGHT WHEEL AND PLOW HERE AND TURNED THE
CARABAO INTO A DRAFT ANIMAL, TO PULL THE PLOW, TO PULL THE CART. This lifted a mountain of
labor off the farmer’s back and expanded his ability to produce…”

Link: http://filipinoscribbles.wordpress.com/tag/spanish-friars/
Friars have done many good things for the country. They preserved our literature, they preserved the
Baybayin or Alibata, they conducted extensive studies of local dialects, they spearheaded education in
the country through establishment of schools and universities, they introduced modern farming and
engineering, they built the first weather station in Asia (the Manila Observatory), and they established
the earliest hospitals and orphanages. Protestant ministers and atheists pale in comparison to what the
Friars have done for the advancement of Philippine society. Ano ba nagawa ng Ang Dating Daan? Iglesia
ni Manalo? Mga born again sects? Atheista? Kumpara sa nagawa ng Simbahan? Ni sa kalingkingan wala
kayong panama sa nagawa ng Simbahan tapos ang kapal nyong manira? Mahiya naman kayo. Pumasok
lang kayo sa Pilipinas nung established na ang lipunan nito. Nasan ba kayo nung mga panahon na mga
anito ang sinasamba ng mga Pilipino at wala silang permanenteng tirahan? Wala naman eh. Simbahan
ang nagmalasakit sa mga katutubo. Simbahan ang nag-ugnay sa mga Pilipino sa iisang komunidad. Nung
dumating ang mga Kastila sa Pilipinas at nalaman nilang hindi naman eto ang Moluccas, gusto nilang
iwan ang Pilipinas. Mga paring misyonero ang tumututol dahil nais nilang dalhin ang mga katutubong
Pilipino sa tamang pagkakilala sa Diyos. Eto patotoo ni William Howard Taft, unang gobernador sibil sa
Pilipinas, nagsilbing Chief Justice ng Amerika, at naging presidente ng Amerika, at isang protestante:

“When Spain found that no gold was to be had in the Islands and that the rich spices that had come
from other possessions were not there, it wanted to leave the Islands and their peoples. TO THIS
COURSE THE FRIARS OBJECTED. THEY SAID: ‘HERE IS OUR FIELD OF SOULS; HERE OUR HARVEST FOR
GOD. IT IS NOT RIGHT THAT WE SHOULD GO AND TAKE FROM THESE POOR SOULS THE LIGHT THAT
THEY HAVE JUST FAITHLY SEEN.’

So Spain yielded. The Friars made parishes, taught Catechism, taught useful things. Thus it is that we
(Americans) found ready to our hands more than 6,000,000 Malays who are Christians, and who are
receptive to our civilizations…
No one who knows of conditions as they have been, will charge me with partiality to the friars. Still, I
WILL TESTIFY TO THE WORK AND THE USEFULNESS OF THESE MEN OF GOD…”

[Fr. Marciano Malvar Guzman, The Truth about Rizal Essays by a Great-Grandnephew (Manila: Green
Street Enterprises, 1995) pp. 13-14]

Kaya mahiya ka na magkalat ng kasinungalingan laban sa Simbahan. Maraming nagawa ang mga
misyonerong pari sa Pilipinaskumpara sa inyo. Kung sino dito ang walang nagawa, kayo yun.

[Vince Leonard: The CBCP opposed him because of their guilt and by wanting to keep the people
ignorant.]

How can you say that when the Church founded the oldest universities and schools in the country like
the University of Sto. Tomas, Ateneo de Manila, De la Salle University, San Carlos University? These are
top schools in the country even today. Proof that our priests don’t want to keep the people ignorant.
Our priests spearheaded the promotion of education in the country. How about your fellowship? How
many schools or a university does your man-made church founded? Let’s compare. Let’s see who
promotes ignorance here.

[Vince Leonard: Never, I heard once in my whole life a priest or a bishop apologize for his mistakes. And
that’s how arrogant they are.]
Our Pope asked for forgiveness for sins committed by Catholics. This is because we do not deny nor
condone bad things committed by Catholics who disobeyed the Church teachings. In contrast,
Protestants and atheists have yet to apologize for their sins committed throughout history. So between
us, it is our religion which practice charity and humility.