The Philippine Independent Church, (officially the Spanish: Iglesia Filipina Independiente or the IFI, also known as the Philippine Independent Catholic Church or the Ilocano: Siwayawaya a Simbaan nga ti Filipinas (sometimes also known as Tagalog: Malayang Simbahan ng Pilipinas), is a Christian denomination of the Catholic tradition in the form of a national church. The church was founded by the members of the first federation of labor unions in the country, the Union Obrera Democratica (UOD) in 1902. Isabelo de los Reyes was the founder of the church and suggested that Gregorio Aglipay be the head of the church. It is also known as the Aglipayan Church after its first obispo maximo, Gregorio Aglipay.
Since 1960 it has been in full communion with the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (and through it with the entire Anglican Communion) and, since 1965, with the Old Catholic Union of Utrecht Association of Churches. Today the Philippine Independent Church or Aglipayan Church is the second largest Christian denomination in the Philippines after the Roman Catholic Church. The bulk of the Aglipayans come from the northern part of the island of Luzon, especially in the Ilocandia region, home of the first supreme bishop. Now the church is divided into 10 dioceses including he Diocese of the United States and Canada. However, due to a lack of priests, many parishes in the USA are priestless.
The Philippine Independent Church is considered the most tangible product of the 1898 Revolution against Spain.[citation needed]
At the end of the 19th century, Filipino nationalism emerged, preceding the struggles of other colonized countries in Asia such as India and French Indochina, and the fight for independence gave way to revolution. Spain's last remaining colonies in the Americans, Cuba and Puerto Rico, were in the process of breaking away at the same time. With the execution of prominent ethnic Filipino clergy such as Fr. José Burgos at the hands of the Spanish royal authorities, church reforms became a facet of the Philippine independence movement.
Whereas many Spanish friars protested abuses by the Spanish government and military, other friars were committing many abuses. Many Filipinos were enraged when Spanish friars blocked the ascent of the Filipino clergy in the Catholic Church hierarchy. Vast lands were claimed as friars' estates from landless farmers. There were also widely known cases of sexual abuse of women by priests. Anak ni Padre Dámaso (Child of Father Dámaso, alluding to a character in one of Rizal's novels) has become a cliché or stereotype to refer to an illegitimate child, especially that of a priest. The death of Fr. José Burgos, Fr. Zamora, and Fr. Gomez is said to have indirectly ignited the Philippine revolution and had a profound effect on Dr. José Rizal.
Gregorio Aglipay was an activist Catholic priest from Ilocos Norte who, despite his intercession and defense of some of the Spanish Catholic clergy from liberal-nationalist Filipino revolutionaries, was excommunicated by the Vatican for inciting rebellion within the Filipino clergy. During the brief interlude between independence from the Spanish and the subsequent reoccupation by the Americans, Isabelo de los Reyes (also known as Don Belong) and Aglipay reformed the Filipino Catholic clergy into the Philippine Independent Church, officially established in 1902. The new church absolutely rejected the spiritual authority of the Pope (then Pope Leo XIII) and abolished the celibacy requirement from its clergy, allowing marriage among its priests, who were all former Catholic priests.
Life & Society > Religion and Spirituality > Christianity > Denominations > Roman Catholic > Not in Communion with Rome > Autocephalous Churches > Old Catholics > Independent Jurisdictions > 
