Learning about Dr. Jose Rizal, “Philippine National Hero” and his writings, I got to know the social situation when Rizal was alive and understand more why he was really against the Spanish colonial authority and clerical domination in his own country. At the same time it helped me understand how the Filipinos had to suffer under the Spanish rule for 350 years.
Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 in the town of Calamba in Laguna. He was born and raised in a wealthy catholic family. He was educated since he was a small child. At an early age of 3, he was taught by his mother how to write, to read and to pray the rosary. When he was 16 years old, he finished Bachelor of Art degree in Ateneo Municipal De Manila with special award as outstanding student. After studying in Ateneo, he started to study Medicine and Philosophy in the University of Santo Tomas. While studying in UST, he saw how the Filipino students were looked down and discriminated by the Dominican professors. He did not finish his medical studies in UST but continued and finished it in Spain.
Growing up and living with his own people in his own county, Rizal witnessed how the Filipino people were oppressed in many ways by the Spanish authorities and the friars on their own soil. The people suffered double death. First of all, the people suffered under the colonial power. All the natural resources of their own country were taken away from them. They worked on their own soil by their own hands, but their labor belonged to the foreign authorities. They became slaves in their own country. They were even killed if they did not follow the rules of the Spanish authorities. Secondly, the people were treated badly by the friars. Some friars used the name of God to oppress the people. They required the people to become Catholics. After becoming Catholics, they were forced to follow the way of the Catholic Church according to what the friars told them to do. They had to give a big amount of money for each mass to the priests. They were even asked to donate their own land for the church. Many of them had to leave their home and worked for the church without salary. Especially, many of the women were victims of rape and other abuses done by the friars. Their culture was mixed with the Spanish culture. Their ways of practicing their native religion were slowly put aside in lieu of Catholic ways brought by the friars.
Through Rizal’s writings “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” that cost his life, we can understand more why the people had to suffer under the Spaniards and the clergies at the same time. Through these two novels, Rizal was able to show how close the church and the state were during that time in the Philippines. The Spanish authorities would not have been successful without the church. And the church could have not converted the people without the interference of the State. It was because of the union of the church and state in Spain. It was strengthened by the efforts of the early kings of Spain to spread and defend the Catholic faith. When the people believe in the Catholic faith, then it would be easy for Spain to control the Philippines. During this time, many of the Spanish authorities were officials and defenders of the faith at the same time. The friars were not only priests, but also the agents of the Spanish king. The governor general was consulted when assigning priests to parishes. At the same time, the priests had roles in the government; especially the Dominicans and Franciscan friars were very active and had very important political power in controlling the state. For example in Noli Me Tangere, Franciscan priest Domaso and Dominican Father Sibyla were very active and had an influence on politics. The officials and the clergies did not work for the benefits of the Filipino people, but they tried their best to get all the common good for their own pockets. They were living in abundance, from the fees for masses of thanksgiving. The people had to pray, kneel and kiss the hands of the priests a lot. They even had to put their own money for the churches to buy gold and silver altars.
Rizal was really against the abuses and bad practices of the priests and religious leaders during his time but he was not an anti-catholic. We can see it clearly in the letter that Rizal wrote to the young women of Malolos: “The Will of God is different from the will of the priests. Christ did not give a kiss of peace to the Pharisees and never gave His hands to be kissed, He did not ask payment for His prayer nor teach for gain” God can not be blinded with money. But the friars, the followers of Christ were starving for money. They sold scapular, rosaries, belts, and other things for money. What would happen to the earth if all the rags on earth were made into scapular, the trees in the forest into rosaries, chairs, door of the church, and the skin of all the beasts into belts? By pointing these things out, Rizal wanted the people to see what the friars were doing. It was not the Will of God that people had to suffer and the friars enjoyed life. Rizal wanted the people to be educated, so that they could teach and raise their next generation well. If people were educated, they would not be oppressed by the Spanish officials and friars. They would bring up their children in the image of the True God, the God who is the Father of us all. They could stand on their own feet and against their enemies. For Rizal: “Revolution is education”. Education should begin from each family to school and society.
Through writing Rizal had showed to the whole world how the colonials and the clergies doing in his country. He had brought the whole world to see his small country.
Resources:
Noli Me Tangere (commonly referred to by its shortened name Noli) is a novel written in Spanish by Filipino writer and national hero José Rizal, first published in 1887 in Berlin, Germany. The English translation was originally titled The Social Cancer, although more recent translations have been published using the original Latin title.
Rizal began writing El Filibusterismo in October 1887 while he was in Calamba. In London (1888), he revised the plot and some chapters. Rizal continued to work on his manuscript in Paris. He later moved to Brussels where the cost of living was cheaper and he would be less likely to be distracted by social events so he could focus on finishing the book. He finally completed the book on March 29, 1891 in Biarritz. It was published in September of that year in Ghent, Belgium, partially funded by Rizal's friend Valentin Ventura
The letter to the young women of Malolos was written in Europe (Feb., 1889)
