Gregorio Aglipay

The Most Reverend Monsignor Gregorio Aglipay, Obispo Máximo I D.D.
1st Supreme Bishop of the Philippine Independent Church
Gregorio Aglipay, circa before the 1910s.
Church	Philippine Independent Church
Installed	September 6, 1902
Term ended	September 1, 1940
Predecessor	Position created
Successor	Santiago Antonio Fonacier y Suguitan
Orders
Ordination	December 21, 1889 (as a Roman Catholic priest)
Consecration	January 18, 1903 (as the first Supreme Bishop of the Philippine Independent Church)
Rank	Priest (Roman Catholic Church) Supreme Bishop (Philippine Independent Church)
Personal details
Born	Gregorio Aglipay Cruz y Labayán (1860-05-05)May 5, 1860[1] Batac, Ilocos Norte, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish Empire
Died	September 1, 1940(1940-09-01) (aged 80) Manila, Philippine Commonwealth
Buried	Gregorio Aglipay National Shrine, Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Denomination	Roman Catholic (excommunicated in 1899) Independent Catholic / Protestant (early IFI/PIC)
Spouse	Pilar Jamias y Ver ​ (m. 1939)​
Children	1
Occupation	Religious leader, guerrilla leader, social and political activist, politician
Profession	Catholic priest, Monsignor, Bishop of Aglipayan Church
Alma mater	Colegio de San Juan de Letran (AB) University of Santo Tomas (dropped out) Immaculate Conception School of Theology (Vigan Seminary)[2]
Motto	"Serve the people!"[3]
Sainthood
Feast day	September 5
Venerated in	The Episcopal Church (Saint on trial use only) Philippine Independent Church (Non-canonized)
Title as Saint	Bishop, Witness, Servant of God, and Visionary
Shrines	Gregorio Aglipay National Shrine, Batac, Ilocos Norte Gregorio Aglipay Shrine, Pinili, Ilocos Norte
Known for	The first head (Supreme Bishop) of the Philippine Independent Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente)

Styles of Gregorio Aglipay
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Religious style	Obispo Máximo I Monsignor Bishop
Posthumous style	The Most Reverend

The Honourable Gregorio Aglipay
Member of the Malolos Congress from Ilocos Norte
In office September 15, 1898 – November 13, 1899 Serving with Pedro Paterno, Primitivo Donato, Martín García, José Luna, and Pio Romero
Personal details
Political party	Republican (1905–1935)
Other political affiliations	Independent (until 1905)
Military service
Allegiance	Philippines
Branch/service	Philippine Republican Army
Rank	Lieutenant General
Battles/wars	Philippine–American War

Gregorio Aglipay Cruz y Labayán (Latin: Gregorius Aglipay; Filipino: Gregorio Labayan Aglipay Cruz; May 5, 1860 – September 1, 1940) was a Filipino former Roman Catholic priest and revolutionary who became the first head of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), the first-ever wholly Filipino-led independent Christian Church in the Philippines in the form of a nationalist church.

Known for inciting patriotic rebellion among the Filipino clergy during the Philippine Revolution and Philippine–American War, he was also a political activist who became acquainted with writer and labor leader Isabelo de los Reyes who would then start an independent Christian Filipino Church colloquially named after Aglipay in 1902 as a revolt against the Roman Catholic Church, which was the state religion of the Philippines at the time, due to the mistreatment of the Spanish friars towards the Filipinos. Contrary to popular belief, Aglipay did not join the IFI until one month from its proclamation by de los Reyes and the Unión Obrera Democrática.

Aglipay was previously excommunicated by Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda y Villa of Manila in May 1899, upon the expressed permission of Pope Leo XIII, due to his involvement in revolutionary activities, despite his prior intercession and defense of some of the Spanish Roman Catholic clergy from liberal-nationalist Filipino revolutionaries. The Roman Catholic Church made attempts to bring Aglipay back to their fold, but failed. Aglipay joined Freemasonry in May 1918, a society excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church. Aglipay married Pilar Jamias y Ver from Sarrat, Ilocos Norte in 1939 and then died one year later. Followers of Aglipay through the Church are sometimes colloquially referred to by their membership as Aglipayans.