Did Jose Rizal love Josephine Bracken enough to retract from Catholicism?

Answer 1

According to some Philippine Historians, Dr. Jose Rizal was a Mason and Josephine Bracken was a catholic. In as much as they wanted to be married in the Catholic Church, they were never granted the dispensation from the Catholic Bishop of Cebu. Religious intermarriages is not acceptable in the strict practises of the Catholic Church in the Philippines up to present, let alone living together outside marriage. Dr. Rizal's alleged retraction, according to some, was the result of the persuasion of Reverend Superior Balaguer so that Dr. Rizal will not be "eternally condemned" after his execution. Due to Dr. Rizal's brilliance in words and great knowledge of legal documents, he manage to write his retraction in a way that both the Diocesan Prelate and Masonry accepted. He declared himself a Catholic "in which I was born and educated" and that " I abominate Masonry as the enemy that it is of the Church and reprobate by the same." Thus, it may mean that Masonry is an enemy of the church and not his. Therefore, I must conclude, that Josephine Bracken has nothing to do with Dr. Jose P. Rizal's retraction from Catholicism. Although there are some contradicting voices of his viewpoints and strong beliefs which are evident in his writing and the accounts of those who are dedicated and persistent enough to get close to our National Hero, only Dr. Jose P. Rizal knows the truth.