Iglesia Filipina Independiente

[masuwerte]

:wave:
Any Aglipayans/Filipinistas here? Anybody have any thoughts about the Philippine Independent Church they'd like to share?

www.ifi.ph (http://www.ifi.ph)

[Wigglesworth]

I wonder what this means, from their website:


It was first after the apostolic succession of IFI had been reestablished in 1948 by three bishops from the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America, that new efforts were made to establish inter-communion relationships worldwide.

Why was there a need to reestablish apostolic succession? Perhaps it had to do with WWII.

:crossrc:

[masuwerte]

[quote=Wigglesworth;36918708]
Why was there a need to reestablish apostolic succession?[quote]

AFAIK, when their community was founded all of the bishops in the Philippines were Spaniards. So no bishops left the RCC for the IFI. That's what I've heard, anyway. Maybe there's an Aglipayan out there who can tell us for sure.

[masuwerte]

From the IFI's Articles of Religion:

"(The IFI) has no intention of departing from Catholic doctrine, practice and discipline, as set forth by the Councils of the undivided Church. Such departures as occurred were due to the exigensies of the times, and are to be corrected by official action as opportunity affords, so that this Church may be brought into the stream of historic Christianity and be universally acknowledged as a true branch of the Catholic Church."

[kepha31]

As the twentieth century unfolded, a whole new ear dawned for the Archdiocese and Cathedral of Manila. The few years of this century saw the last Spanish prelate of Manila Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda holding on to the reins of the Catholic hierarchy. Associated with the told and detested system of frailocracy in Spanish colonial Philippines , Nozaleda easily earned the reputation as one of the most unpopular archbishops in the history of the colony. The Philippine Revolution marked the reversal of fortune for Spain and the religious who were portrayed and considered by not only a few as the villain in the colony’s history of servitude, abuse, and oppression.

During this period the secular clergy gained possession of the parishes which were once the domain of the regulars. It was the time when the delicate issue of friar lands became a ground for debate. It witnessed the rift and final schism between Gregorio Aglipay, a secular priest and vicar-general in the Philippine revolutionary army of Emilio Aguinaldo, and the Catholic Church. The Union Obrero Democratica of Isabelo de los Reyes, a famous propagandist and labor leader, proclaimed the creation of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente in August of 1902 when their clamor to oust all the Spanish friars from the country and their desire to organize a new nationalist and patriotic Church composed of Filipinos, but still under the authority of the Pope, were denied by the Vatican. Aglipay accepted the leadership of the newly created Church as Obispo maximo.
http://www.manilacathedral.org/history/7th-cath.htm

Its principles are rationalism (reason alone is our guide), naturalism (no supernatural order), anti-Christianism (it denies Christ and the Trinity), negativism (it is a tissue of denials), contradiction (it teaches many things and then contradicts them in practice, e.g. forbids veneration of Sacred images but has them in their churches, denies priestly power but uses it to justify the consecration of bishops, etc.) and syncretism (conflicting elements from a variety of sources joined together).

[masuwerte]

Its principles are rationalism (reason alone is our guide), naturalism (no supernatural order), anti-Christianism (it denies Christ and the Trinity), negativism (it is a tissue of denials), contradiction (it teaches many things and then contradicts them in practice, e.g. forbids veneration of Sacred images but has them in their churches, denies priestly power but uses it to justify the consecration of bishops, etc.) and syncretism (conflicting elements from a variety of sources joined together).


Well, that's pretty harsh, Kepha, where did you get that?

[Wigglesworth]

It seems unlikely that the link is to the Independent Church. I have little confidence in the analysis as well.

Peace.