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Bishop Domingo de Salazar |
1581 - Bishop Domingo de Salazar, the first bishop of Manila and of the Philippines, calls a council of differing ecclesiastical officials to discuss the liberation of native slaves held by Spaniards
during the early years of Spanish colonial rule; de Salazar, who would
erect the Manila Cathedral a few months later, assails colonial
Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo de Penalosa and other civil officials who
have defied or failed to abide by the King Philip II's order, thus
delaying the slaves' emancipation as he declares that "the freedom of the Filipinos can not be deferred as it is a matter of natural and divine right and clear justice"; having arrived that same year in Manila, de Salazar would come down in Philippine Catholic history as the "intrepid Salazar" who fearlessly espoused the cause of the Filipinos who were rapidly being depopulated owing to the injustices and suffering inflicted by Spanish officials and encomenderos,
undertaking the mission of pleading for the natives before the King
that eventually led to the correction of various abuses, the creation
of three new dioceses, and the elevation of Manila to a metropolitan
see with him as first archbishop.
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Fr. Gregorio L. Aglipay |
1902 - Filipino Gregorio Aglipay y Labayan
proclaims his establishment of a new religious group, the Aglipayan
Church, severing himself from Rome and celebrating Mass as the 'Obispo Maximo of the Philippine Independent Church' some 2 1/2 years into the imperialist American invasion/Filipino-American War (1899-1914);
Aglipay is a nationalist who sympathized with the Philippine
Revolution against Spain that broke out in 1896, giving aid to Katipuneros in
Victoria, Tarlac where he served as assistant to the Spanish parish
priest before finally joining the revolution in 1898 and even becoming a
signatory of the Malolos constitution and military vicar general
of the fledgling Philippine Republic until the forces of the Bald Eagle began invading the Southeast Asian nation; along with nationalist labor
leader Isabelo de los Reyes, Aglipay would then set about filipinizing
the church, leading to his excommunication on April 20, 1899 by the
Spanish Roman Catholic Church and his eventual formation of the Philippine Independent Church after Vatican failed to recognize their cause.
Photo credits: National Historical Institute & Wikipedia
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