Philippine Independent Church


Philippine Independent Church
Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Spanish)
Malayang Simbahan ng Pilipinas (Filipino)
AbbreviationIFI, PIC
TypeChristian (Western)
ClassificationCatholicity, Protestantism (formerly on its earliest years)
OrientationMix of Independent Catholic, Anglo-Catholic, Nationalist, Progressive, Liberal
ScriptureHoly Bible
TheologyTrinitarian (with theological and doctrinal identity based from the Chalcedonian, Anglican, and Catholic theologies), Independent Catholic doctrine, Liberation theology
PolityEpiscopal
GovernanceSynod (General Assembly)
StructureCommunion
Supreme
Bishop
Joel O. Porlares
General
Secretary
Dindo D. Ranojo
Supreme Council of
Bishops Chairperson
Joselito T. Cruz
Administration
  • The IFI General Assembly
  • IFI Executive Commission
Dioceses
  • Local dioceses: 49 (clustered into regional bishops conferences)
  • Overseas dioceses: 2
  • Total: 51
  • Overseas organized congregations: 4
Associations
Full communionSee list
RegionPhilippines
North America
Europe
Middle East
East Asia
Southeast Asia
Pacific Islands
LanguageFilipino (lingua franca), Native Philippine regional languages, English, Philippine Spanish, Latin
LiturgyThe Filipino Ritual and The Filipino Missal by Iglesia Filipina Independiente, 1961
HeadquartersIglesia Filipina Independiente National Cathedral of the Holy Child
#1500 Taft Avenue,
Ermita, Manila, Philippines
Founder
OriginAugust 3, 1902 (1902-08-03)
Quiapo, Manila, Philippine Islands
IndependenceFrom the See of Rome:
Since the 20th century; 122 years ago
(Autocephalous Filipino leadership since)
Separated fromRoman Catholic Church
Separations
List
  • Iglesia de la Libertad
    (1938, small minority)
  • Independent Church of Filipino Christians / Aglipay Memorial Church (ICFC / AMC)
    (1955, small minority)
  • Church Body of Christ – Filipinista
    (1966, small minority)
  • Holy Catholic Apostolic Christian Church (HCAC)
    (1966, small minority)
  • Philippine Independent Catholic Church (Iglesia Catolica Filipina Independiente) – PICC/ICFI
    (1981)
  • Aglipayan Christian Church Inc. (Legion of Mary)
    (1995, small minority)
  • 63rd and Mothers Apostolic Church of the Philippines
    (2000s faction, small minority)
  • At least 30 other minor "Aglipayan" offshoots, breakaway factions, sects, and splinter groups all over the Philippines not in communion with the IFI, which is the legally-declared "mother church"
Members1,458,992 (2020 census)
6-7 million (per WCC and 2023 internal estimate)
Aid organization
  • IFI – Task Force on Emergency Relief (IFI–TFER)
  • IFI Concern and Advocacy for Relief & Resiliency, Empowerment, and Sustainability (IFI CARES)
Seminaries2 (plus 1 joint seminary with the Episcopal Church in the Philippines)
Other name(s)
  • Aglipayan Church
  • "Mainstream/Mainline Aglipayan Church"
  • "Mother Aglipayan Church"
  • "Native/Indigenous Filipino Catholic Church"
Publications
  • The Christian Register
  • The Sower
Official websitewww.ifi.org.ph
SloganLatin: Pro Deo et Patria - Scripturae, Scientia, Libertas, Caritas
Slogan/Mottos in English: "For God and Fatherland - Scripture, Charity, Knowledge, Liberty"
Official flag of the IFI

The Philippine Independent Church (Filipino: Malayang Simbahan ng Pilipinas; Ilocano: Nawaya a Simbaan ti Filipinas), officially referred to by its Philippine Spanish name Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) and colloquially called the Aglipayan Church, is an independent catholic Christian denomination, in the form of a nationalist church, in the Philippines. Its revolutionary nationalist schism from the Roman Catholic Church was proclaimed during the American colonial period in 1902, following the end of the Philippine–American War, by members of the country's first labor union federation, the Unión Obrera Democrática Filipina.

The foundation of the church was a response to the historical mistreatment and racial discrimination of Filipinos by Spaniard priests and partly influenced by the unjust executions of José Rizal and Filipino priests and prominent secularization movement figures Mariano Gomez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, during the former Spanish colonial rule in the country when Roman Catholicism was still the state religion.