A Filipino religious builder

Title

Language

English

Source

Panorama Volume XVII (Issue No.7) July 1965

Year

1965

Subject

Religious groups

Religious influence

Religious leader

Iglesia Ni Kristo;

Manalo, Felix Ysagun, 1886-1963

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

The Iglesia Ni Kristo is a monument to the dynamic leadership of Felix Manalo in the field of religion.

Fulltext

■ The Iglesia Ni Kristo is a monument to the dy namic leadership of Felix Manalo in the field of religion. A FILIPINO RELIGIOUS BUILDER An outstanding personality, whose influence has made a deep impress on a vast sec tor of the nation, died a few months ago. He was none other than Felix Manalo, the supreme administrator of the religious organization known as Iglesia ni Kristo with a following estimated at about 3,500,000 Filipinos. The late religious leader could well be cited as an example of what a man with ability, de dication, sincerity, and ener gy could accomplish in the way of human service out side of the most traveled path of politics and government work which attracts the great majority of men, young and old in our country. Broad ly speaking, the history of the Philippines may no long er remain complete without the figure of Felix Manalo and his achievement in an area which has not aroused great interest and enthusiasm among Filipinos of talent and ambition. In times not usually consi dered extraordinary or criti cal, Felix Manalo has shown beyond doubt that there are things other than politics of business which have a strong appeal to a considerable por tion of the people of our country. He has shown that there could be a type of lea dership which could be used to answer a popular and hu man need. Whether one agrees or not with his ideas and proce dures, one has to admit that he has attained greatness which, in many ways, no other Filipino has so far equalled. The concrete re sults of his work attest to the hunger and the eagerness of millions of Filipinos for the teachings and the message he has given them. Up to the time of his death, he had suc ceeded in establishing 1,250 churches all over the Philip pines. Considering that he founded the Iglesia ni Kristo only on July 27, 1914, no July 1965 7 other organization including the Roman Catholic church, the Aglipayan church, Ameri can Protestant churches, has been able to equal that re cord attained by him in the space of less than 50 years. The first site of his church was at Punta, Sta. Ana, Ma nila; and he started with a following of only about 100 persons. Even if one were to include political organiza tions and political parties, no group, society or establish ment in this country has been able to recruit some 3,500,000 followers at any time during the last 70 years. The Iglesia ni Kristo re presents a voting population of about 900,000 men and women. They are said to follow the leadership of Felix Manalo and to be convinced by the inspiration of his civic spirit to cast their votes prac tically as one man in our general elections. It is sur prising, therefore, that in the last ten or fifteen years poli ticians running for important public offices such as that of President of the Philippines, the Vice President, or the Senator have often, or almost invariably, approached the Supreme Head of the Iglesia ni Kristo for assistance by persuading him to appreciate and support their programs and policies. For undoubted ly, Felix Manalo’s leadership was not confined to sectarian purposes but was also extend ed to such ends as he consi dered beneficial to the indi vidual and the nation. Descended from humble parents, Manalo was bom on May 10, 1886 at Barrio Calsada, Taguig, Province of Rizal. His parents were, of course, Roman Catholics. He was married to Honrada de Guzman with whom he had six children the eldest of whom is Pilar, followed by Avelina, Dominador, Salva dor, Erano, and Bienvenido. After the American occupa tion of the Philippines, Felix Manalo was converted to the Methodist church. Having decided to enter religious work, Felix Manalo became a minister of the Methodist church. Then he became a minister of the Presbyterian church, and lat er on he joined the Seventh Day Adventist again as a mi nister in this organization. As a serious student of the Bible, he felt that there must be a more faithful observance 8 Panorama of its precepts. His expe rience as a religious worker must have convinced him that there could be a pro gram and a procedure more satisfying to him and to ma ny Filipinos than any of the then existing religious sects. Hence, with his broad back ground of church work, he decided to establish the Igle sia ni Kristo which he consi dered suitable to the kind of life, condition, and daily ac tivity of his countrymen. That his decision received agree ment and acquiescence on the part of many of his own peo ple may no longer be denied and questioned by anyone who is not bound by narrow prejudices against non-con formists. It should be added that the success of Felix Ma nalo in the field of religious activities' would have been impossible if the spirit and institutions of democracy had not been implanted in this country. Felix Manalo disclaimed any pretension to be the spi ritual head of his church. He had always declared in strongeterms that the supreme head of his church is Jesus Christ himself. His relation with his church and his po sition in it are merely that of an Administrator or Over seer. If he had left the other religious organizations, ac cording to him, it was be cause he believed that they do not follow strictly the teachings of the Bible. To him the Gospels are the true basis of the Christian faith. Felix Manalo died about a month before reaching the age of 77 years. His sickness was cancer. He is succeed ed by Erano Manalo, his fifth child, who by the way was elected as his successor way back in 1953 by the Council of Ministers of the church. According to the Council, the decision in the choice of Erano Manalo was based on the following personal quali ties of Erano Manalo: a fine character, a strong personal ity, energetic leadership char acteristics, deep devotion to the church, and thorough knowledge of the religion. The fact that Erano is the son of the founder was com pletely disregarded by the Council of Ministers in arriv ing at its decision of choos ing him as the next adminis trator of the Iglesia ni Kristo. —Philippine Weekly Review. July : 1965 9

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