Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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AGLIPAYANISM
A schism in the Philippine Islands started in 1902 by Gregorio Aglipay (1860-1940), a native priest of Manila. Reacting against the Spanish-dominated Church and taking advantage of the American acquisition of the Philippines, Aglipay proclaimed himself pope of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church with about a million followers. When Aglipay died in 1940, reconciled with the Church, the movement began to decline. But it is still influential in that country. There are now two main types or Aglipayans: the Unitarians, who deny the Trinity; and the Trinitarians, who entered into full communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States.
