Rizalistas

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Rizalistas. Members of religious movements in the Philippines which honour José Rizal y Mercado (1861–96) as divine, as the power of the Holy Spirit, as a second Christ, or as a new messiah who will return. Rizal was an intellectual, physician, novelist, and nationalist who was shot by the Spanish after the Philippines revolution broke out. Although not himself especially religious, he has become a national martyr and symbol of Philippine independence. Among the larger movements are Bathalismo (Bathala, ‘God’) claiming to antedate the arrival of the Spanish; Banner of the Race Church (Watawat ng Lahi) which resembles Roman Catholicism and awaits the return of Rizal; Sacred Church of the Race (Iglesia Sagrada ng Lahi) with its own ancient ‘bible’ kept secret until Rizal appeared as God on earth; Philippine Church or Adarnistas (after ‘Mother Adarna’ the founder) for whom Rizal was not executed but lives as true God and man; Patriotic Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions