St. Lorenzo Ruiz De Manila- A victim of racism, classism and injustice. 

How can we forget the story of St. Lorenzo Ruiz De Manila? He’s the first Filipino saint from Binondo, Manila who lived his whole life as a Catholic Christian. His deep connection with the Catholic Faith impelled him to stay in faith despite intense Christian persecutions during their time. His famous line “ I am a Christian and I will die for God. If I had a thousand lives, I will give all of them to Him” is remembered until now because of his bravery to refuse recanting his faith despite being tortured and facing death. 

If we look at it on this point of view, you would see St. Lorenzo as a martyr of the Christian faith. However we should also not forget the fact that St. Lorenzo is a victim of racism, classism and injustice. 

In 1600s, racism and classism is evident in the Philippine society. Chinese-Filipino people on their time were seen at the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder of the colony. St. Lorenzo, born of having Chinese blood, was  not spared for such oppression.  

When St. Lorenzo was accused of murdering a Spaniard, the authorities immediately used his roots of being a Filipino-Chinese as an easy target to blame. This is not even an uncommon phenomenon because documents and literatures states that such racism exists before. 

In fact, if you can remember Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, Chinese oppression was portrayed when Don Rafael-the father of Ibarra, was transferred from a Catholic cemetery to a Chinese cemetery due to Padre Damaso’s accusation of him being a heresy, hence not honorable do be laid at rest on Catholic grounds. This literature just proves how Chinese people are being classified as worse than Filipinos by the society. 

St. Lorenzo being a part of the marginalized community do not have the means to defend himself. Fearing for his life and his family’s safety, he fled with three Dominican priests to Nagasaki, Japan. Unfortunately, Christians were being persecuted in Japan by the Tokuagawa Shogunate and tortured to death should they not recant their faith.  

And just like how the story goes, St. Lorenzo along with the Dominican priests was captured, pressured to renounce their faith and then tortured to death because they remained resolute in their faith.  

As I reflect on St. Lorenzo’s story, I noticed how these issues of racism, classism and injustice are still evident in our world today.  The society was so blinded that they blame every misfortune and disasters to the people of color, people of different religion, and communities who don’t fit on present society standards. Innocents are being persecuted of death because of an uncontrollable factor of them being born that way. And it’s sad knowing that until now, there are people like St. Lorenzo who has to die just because they are defending what they grew up on and believed in. 

Do we really need more martyrs? Or should we rather change the world for these “martyrs” to live on?