Philippine Independent Church

Philippine Independent Church religious body that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1902 and rejected the spiritual authority of the pope. It is known popularly as the Aglipayan Church, after its founder Gregorio Aglipay. Initially it drew large numbers as a result of nationalist feelings, but later its membership dwindled significantly. Doctrinal disputes and strong factionalism developed. One group allied with American Unitarians and split into various parties. Another, a trinitarian group, moved toward the Episcopal Church, by which their ministers were ordained after 1948 and with which they were formally united in 1961. In 1965 the Philippine Independent Church joined the Old Catholic Union of Utrecht. (See also Old Catholics .)

Bibliography: See P. S. de Achutegui and M. A. Bernad, Religious Revolution in the Philippines (2 vol., 1960-66).

Philippine Independent Church. This stems from Gregorio Aglipay (1860–1940), a Filipino Roman Catholic priest, who first formed the Filipino National Catholic Church after the revolution; this languished for lack of papal recognition, and in 1902, Isabelo de los Reyes proclaimed a new Philippine Independent Church with Aglipay as Supreme Bishop. This soon acquired nearly half the RC population, but after the Supreme Court returned its properties to the RC Church it gradually declined and affiliated with Unitarians in 1931. Since then there has been a remarkable renewal by division between unitarian and conservative groups.