First Catholic Mass in the Philippines
Evidence 1: BUTUAN CITY — The event that
marked the birth of Christianity in the Philippines
485 years ago is still under dispute, with this city
renewing its claim that the historic first Mass
celebrated by Spanish colonizers was held here and
not in Limasawa, Leyte.
Local executives and Church officials as well as
historians here said they have new scientific
evidence to substantiate the re-filing of a petition
before the National Historical Institute (NHI)
asserting that Butuan City — particularly Mazzaua
Island, now Barangay Pinamangculan — was the
official site of the first Mass on Easter Sunday in
1521.
Among the pieces of evidence are 10 1,600-year-old
Balahanghai boats believed to have been used for
trade and to transport people for worship services.
"We waited for more scientific evidences to strongly
substantiate the Mazzaua claim until
geomorphologists and archeologists came up with
official reports that indeed Mazzaua Island was the
site of the first Mass," Fr. Joesilo Amalia, trustee of
the Butuan City Cultural and Historical Foundation
Inc. and curator of the Butuan Diocese Museum told
The STAR yesterday.
Butuan City Cultural and Historical Foundation Inc.,
(BCHFI) with the backing of the Butuan City
government in the early 1980s up to the ’90s,
contested the declaration. This prompted the
government in 1994 to form the Gancayco
Commission headed by then Supreme Court
Associate Justice Emilio Gancayco.
Evidence 2: Southern Leyteños and the rest of the
Filipino people could heave a sigh of relief over the
controversy surrounding the site of the First Mass
which ushered in the Christianization of the
Philippines. The issue is resolved.
The first ever Christian Mass in the country on
March 31, 1521 was celebrated in the island of
Limasawa, south of Leyte and not in Butuan City, so
declared the National Historical Institute.
The finding was reached by the Gancayco
Commission--composed of retired Supreme Court
Justice Emilio A. Gancayco as chair, lawyer
Bartolome C. Fernandez and Dr. Maria Luisa T.
Camagay--which was created in May 1996 by the
NHI to ''resolve a very sensitive historical issue
facing our country and our people.''
''It is the . . . view of the panel that, upon a
preponderance of evidence culled from the primary
sources, the first ever Christian Mass on Philippine
soil on March 31, 1521 was celebrated in the island
of Limasawa south of Leyte,'' concluded the
commission in its 24-page decision.
In its conclusion, the commission said ''the panel
closes the presentation confident that any and all
lingering doubts regarding such historical detail are
now put to rest. Paraphrasing what the Bible
proclaims, the truth about a bygone era in Philippine
history shall set us free.''
Did Rizal Retract?

Evidence 1: Jesuit vouches for Rizal's retraction Evidence 2: Holes in the Jesuit's story

It was solely one Jesuit priest, Vicente Balaguer,S.J,
who laid the basis for the story that Rizal retracted
his words and deeds. It was also he who made the
claim that he married Jose Rizal and Josephine
Bracken at 6.15 a.m. on December 30, just minutes
before Rizal was executed.
In the final chapters of his biography of Rizal, Austin
Coates (Biography of Rizal,Rizal: Filipino
Nationalist and Patriot, Solidaridad Publishing
House, Manila, 1968) totally demolishes the veracity
of Balaguer's claims, which were made the basis of
the archbishop's announcement of a retraction, and
which were also contained in a letter from Balaguer
to his Jesuit superior, Fr. Pio Pi.
The Rizal family did not accept the retraction and the
marriage. They knew that that if he had retracted, he
would certainly have said so in his 6a.m.
communication to his mother on the fateful day of
his execution.
Balaguer's account exposed itself through major
discrepancies in his story. His claim of marrying
Rizal and Josephine was totally belied by the facts.
In his account, Balaguer was totally unaware that
Rizal had written "Mi Último Adiós" on the eve of
his execution. Balaguer allowed no time for Rizal to
write the poem. The poem in its third stanza carries
the exact date and time when it was written.
In his claim of having performed the canonical
marriage of Rizal and Josephine, Balaguer said he
performed it in front of one of Rizal's sisters between
6 and 6:25 a.m. on December 30. But none of Rizal's
sisters went to the fort that morning.

Generalization
The lie in Rizal's retraction is soundly thrashed by Austin Coates. He wrote: "A man of whom there is no record
that he ever told a lie can scarcely be considered as having chosen a solemn moment to tell his first one
"The Jesuits who had visited him knew how unlikely it was that Rizal would retract ...
"While one might kill the man, his writings remained, and these were a danger, needing to be sterilized, lest they
poison the mind of future generations with anti-clerical views. If he could be made to admit his errors against
religion and retract them, it would blunt the point of everything that he had written ...
"The Jesuits' two attempts to make Rizal retract had different motives. The first was undertaken for what the
Jesuits sincerely believed to be his own good, and possibly their own as well. The second was undertaken with
the main purpose of sterilizing his influence on the future."
Could Rizal have retracted in order to receive the sacraments of the faith. It is part of Balaguer's elaborate fraud
to suggest that Rizal feared for his soul during his final hours.
He reported Rizal as saying to him: "Father, since faith is God's grace, I promise that thetime of life remaining to
me1 shall spend asking God for the grace of faith."
The Jesuit declared: "I can certify with an oath that, loving God, Rizal died a devout, holy, Christian death blessed
by God. With His grace I hope to see him in heaven."
Balaguer was born in Alcoy, Alicante, Spain on January 19, 1851. He entered the Society of Jesus on 30 July
1890, and came to the Philippines in 1894. In 1896, he was transferred to Dapitan, where he met Rizal. Months
later, he was attesting to have heard the most important final words of Dr. Jose Rizal.