Philippine Independent Church

An outgrowth of the Filipino nationalist movement, the Philippine Independent Church, or the Iglesia Filipina Independiente—the Spanish name the church uses for itself—is a Protestant Christian church that was formed after a schism with the Catholic Church in 1902. The Philippine Independent Church was established in response to the desire for an independently operated Filipino national church amidst claims of racial discrimination and other abuses by the Catholic Church.

History

Unlike many of its neighbors in the region, the Philippines is a principally Christian nation, with roughly 78 percent of the population identifying as Roman Catholic as of 2020, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The Indigenous inhabits of the Philippines practiced a number of local native belief systems before the arrival of Europeans. Islam came to the Philippines first, in 1350, while Christianity arrived with the Spanish two centuries later. Though Islam had managed to grab a toehold in several of the southern islands of the Philippine archipelago, the Spanish, who had reached the Philippines in 1521, prevented its further spread. While they helped to unify the many islands of the modern-day Philippines into a single political entity under the territorial governorship of Miguel López de Legazpi, the Spanish also made Christianity the only state-sanctioned religion.

The Spanish remade the Philippines over in their own image, placing its inhabitants into newly built Spanish-style villages called pueblos, where Catholic churches often occupied a central role in both the social and physical geography of these towns.

Resistance to colonial rule was an enduring aspect of the four hundred years of Spanish control over the islands. Filipino nationalism began to rise to a peak in the nineteenth century, as the mostly Indigenous residents of the islands resented their lack of economic mobility compared to the social castes composed of foreigners and their locally born descendants. When the major ports of the Philippines became open to all nations in the 1850s, foreign traders brought with them more liberal political philosophies that inspired the poorer classes to action.

At the turn of the century, the Philippines was in a state of open rebellion, with many Catholic priests often serving as active members of the insurgency. The United States was drawn into the fight by 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War; that conflict ended with Spain ceding control of the Philippines to the United States.

Though the Philippines had been allied with the United States during the Spanish-American War, America refused to recognize Filipino claims of independence, which in turn led to the Philippine-American War (1899–1902). The sympathy of many Catholic priests was with the Filipino nationalists. In 1872, the executions of three liberal Catholic friars who had been falsely accused of mutiny by the Spanish served as a nationalist rallying cause.

Gregorio Aglipay was a Filipino Catholic priest during the height of the insurrections against the Spanish and the Americans. In 1898, he joined the revolution and was excommunicated by the Catholic Church as a result. Together, he founded the Philippine Independent Church with Filipino writer Isabelo de los Reyes; the Church is often called the Aglipayan Church in his honor.

The new church broke away from Rome, with many of the founders excommunicated in response. At the time of the division, the Philippine Independent Church was strongly linked with Filipino nationalism, and as much as a third of the national population were congregants.

After the Philippines gained independence in 1946, however, the popularity of the Church began to wane despite competent management by religious officials. As of 2019, according to the World Council of Churches, the Philippine Independent Church claimed around six million members.

The Philippine Independent Church entered into a communion with the American Episcopal Church in 1960, which enabled it to be included in the Protestant Anglican Church communion of churches. In addition, in 1961, the Church entered into inter-communion with the Philippine Episcopal Church, with which it now shares some resources. A covenant of partnership has also been established with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines since 1999.

Beliefs

In its original incarnation, the Church espoused a form of religious orthodoxy that linked theology with Filipino political nationalism. The initial goals of Aglipay and the other founders were to create a Christian church free of interference from Spain, the United States, or Rome.

Under Aglipay's leadership, the Church initially adopted a Unitarian posture in conflict with the Trinitarian beliefs of the Catholic Church. However, after Aglipay's death in 1940, the leaders of the Church elected to move the denomination back toward traditional orthodoxies associated with Catholicism. To that end, they reaffirmed a Trinitarian belief in the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

One of the principal differences between the Philippine Independent Church and Catholicism lies in its stance on clergy. While Catholicism demands strict celibacy from its male-only priesthood, the Philippine Independent Church not only ordinates both men and women but also allows them to marry. In 2017, the Supreme Council of Bishops approved a statement that was released to the public that served as an apology for any indifference the church had shown toward the LGBTQIA+ community in the past and called for acceptance of all people, no matter their sexual orientation.

In most other ways, the Church follows many of the same scriptural articles of faith as most Christian denominations, including obeisance to the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed and the use of the normative liturgy found in Christian orthodoxy.

Despite its current affiliation with the Anglican Communion, the Church has stated a commitment to Catholic doctrine as one of its articles of foundation, as well as a desire to someday be potentially recognized as a "true branch" of the Catholic Church, despite a continued repudiation of the Pope's authority at the time of its creation as an independent entity.

Organization

The Philippine Independent Church is led by a Supreme Bishop, who heads the Supreme Council of Bishops (SCB), which is composed of all extant bishops, including both those still serving or retired. The SCB establishes doctrinal orthodoxy under the leadership of the Supreme Bishop. Under the SCB are the Council of Priests and the National Lay Council, the latter being a body of elected delegates. All three Councils are part of a broader General Assembly that serves in the governance of the Church.

Bibliography

“The Concordat of Full Communion Between the Iglesia Filipina Independiente and The Episcopal Church.” The Episcopal Church, www.episcopalchurch.org/ministries/ecumenical-interreligious/concordat-full-communion-between-iglesia-filipina-independiente-episcopal-church. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

"Philippine Independent Church." World Council of Churches, www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/philippine-independent-church. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

“Religious Affiliation in the Philippines (2020 Census of Population and Housing).” Philippine Statistics Authority, 22 Feb. 2023, psa.gov.ph/content/religious-affiliation-philippines-2020-census-population-and-housing. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

Rodell, Paul A. Culture and Customs of the Philippines. Greenwood, 2002.

Smit, Peter-Ben. Old Catholic and Philippine Independent Ecclesiologies in History. Brill, 2011.