Gregorio Aglipay

Gregorio Aglipay, born on May fifth, eighteen sixty, was a prominent Filipino figure who played a significant role during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War. Initially a Roman Catholic priest, Aglipay became a revolutionary leader and the first head of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), marking a pivotal moment in the establishment of a nationalist church in the Philippines.

His activism was instrumental in inciting patriotic sentiments among Filipino clergy, leading to a movement that sought independence from the Roman Catholic Church, which was then the state religion. Aglipay's collaboration with writer and labor leader Isabelo de los Reyes culminated in the founding of the IFI in nineteen hundred and two, a direct response to the mistreatment of Filipinos by Spanish friars.

Despite his earlier defense of some Spanish clergy, Aglipay faced excommunication in May of nineteen ninety-nine by Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda y Villa, sanctioned by Pope Leo XIII, due to his revolutionary activities. His attempts to reconcile with the Roman Catholic Church were unsuccessful, leading him to join Freemasonry in May of nineteen eighteen, further distancing himself from his former faith.

In nineteen thirty-nine, Aglipay married Pilar Jamias y Ver from Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, but his life was cut short when he passed away just one year later. Today, his followers are often referred to as Aglipayans, a testament to his enduring legacy in the landscape of Filipino religious and political history.