The Gomburza effect beyond Rizal and Bonifacio
THE recent Gomburza film by Jesuit Communications directed by Pepe Diokno (an unexpected hit!) and an earlier documentary by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) with the same name — of which I was a historical consultant — underscored the link between the events of 1872 and the martyrdom of the Filipino priests Mariano Gomes, José Burgos and Jacinto Zamora, and what eventually would become the birth of the Filipino nation. This was achieved through José Rizal, who dedicated his second novel “El Filibusterismo” to the three priests, and Andres Bonifacio’s revolutionary movement, the Katipunan, which used what was believed to be a piece of clothing from the priests’ execution in their rituals, sort of a talisman, and vowed in their writings to avenge them.
But fellow Manila Times columnist Van Ybiernas, who has been writing about the historical context and effects of the three priests’ martyrdom, often says that we should go beyond this to make the big picture accurate and complete, to see the total implications of the Gomburza effect. He tasked me to write about it to conclude somehow what he had started in his columns.
The secularization advocates like Fr. Pedro Sebastian Pelaez, the Gomburza and so many others, despite already having high positions in the clergy and being already parish priests, wanted this to expand for the seculars (seculares, seglares), mostly Filipinos, to take over the parishes. Many parishes were controlled by Spanish priests from the five religious orders — the Augustinians, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Augustinian Recollects and the Jesuits (regulares).
Today is the 125th anniversary of the establishment of the Republica Filipina in Malolos, the first constitutional democratic republic in Asia, which was somehow a victory of the Philippine Revolution started by the Father of the Filipino Nation, Andres Bonifacio.
In that congress, one delegate was a priest who fought for the secularization and civil rights of Filipinos and was also exiled to the Marianas after the Cavite Mutiny of 1872. This was Fr. Mariano Sevilla from Bulakan, Bulacan, who happened to have invented the Flores de Mayo because he translated its devotional prayer book from Italian. Despite his nationalism and advocacy of the separation of church and state, he was loyal to the Pope and also made sure that God was not dishonored. He castigated Apolinario Mabini’s “Decalogue” for being seemingly agnostic.
At around this time, despite being excommunicated, Don Gregorio Aglipay from Batac, Ilocos Norte, was still faithful to the magisterium and the authority of Rome but was recognized as a champion of the Filipino clergy. He served as Vicario General Castrence of the revolutionary government of Aguinaldo government, and on Oct. 23, 1899, he met the Filipino clergy in Paniqui, Tarlac, to talk about their fight against the monastic supremacy of Spaniards in the Philippines.
Contrary to popular belief, Aglipay did not establish a separate church from Rome. After the revolution, during the first congress of workers on Aug. 3, 1902, where Don Isabelo de los Reyes, Pascual Poblete and other unionists announced the establishment of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, Aglipay was appointed Supreme Bishop in absentia.
Aglipay only changed his mind when two Jesuits went to him to have him sign a document pledging his loyalty to the Pope. He said he would only agree if more Filipino priests would be appointed. Fr. Francisco Foradada then questioned the competence of Filipino priests, which angered Aglipay that he reportedly slapped the Jesuit. He then accepted his appointment in the IFI on Jan. 18, 1903. IFI became known as the Aglipayan Church. For more information about these events, read Fr. John N. Schumacher, SJ’s “The Revolutionary Clergy: The Filipino Clergy and the Nationalist Movement, 1850-1903.”
Then, during the time of the Marcos dictatorship, a group of religious emerged from the Loyola House of Studies at the Ateneo de Manila and founded Gomburza on Feb. 17, 1977, becoming active in the fight for the restoration of democracy. They believe that struggling for justice is a part of witnessing to the Gospel of Christ. Their fight continues and is now
headed by Father Robert Reyes.
The complete Filipinization of the Philippine Catholic Church only happened in the 1970s with the replacement of foreign superiors of many major religious orders and organizations by Filipinos. The dream of the secularization advocates and the Gomburza was completed only over a hundred years after their death.
And now, we have come a long way. Two of the biggest religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church in the world today are headed by Filipinos. The Dominicans (Ordo Praedicatorum) by Fr. Gerard Timoner 3rd, OP, and the De La Salle Brothers (Fratres Scholarum Christianarum) with Brother Armin Luistro, FSC at the helm.
The Filipino Church is part of our struggle for freedom and continues to be part of the continuing search for “kaginhawahan,” or a better life for our poor and oppressed.