Gregorio Aglipay
Filipino religious leader
Died when: 80 years 116 days (963 months)Star Sign: Taurus
Gregorio Aglipay Cruz y Labayán (Latin: Gregorius Aglipay; Filipino: Gregorio Labayan Aglipay Cruz; 5 May 1860 – 1 September 1940) was a former Filipino Catholic priest who became the first head of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, an independent Church in the form of a national church in the Philippines.
Known for inciting patriotic rebellion among the Filipino clergy, he was also a political activist who became acquainted with Isabelo de los Reyes, who would start an independent Christian Filipino Church named after Aglipay in 1902.
Aglipay was previously excommunicated by Archbishop Bernardino Norzaleda y Villa of Manila in May 1899, upon the expressed permission of Pope Leo XIII.
Aglipay later joined Freemasonry in May 1918, a society excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church. Aglipay later married Pilar Jamias y Ver from Sarrat, Ilocos Norte in 1939 and then died one year later.
Followers of Aglipay through the Church colloquially sometimes refer to their membership as Aglipayans.