Philippine Independent Church formed at Paniqui conference, separating from Rome (October 1899)

Background. Gregorio Aglipay, a priest from Ilocos Norte, was excommunicated in 1899 for joining Emilio Aguinaldo's movement. He had been appointed military vicar general in 1898 to challenge Spanish friar-bishops. The Paniqui Assembly was convened in response to Apolinario Mabini's manifesto urging the organization of a Filipino national church, inspired by the secularization movement.

Formation. The conference in Paniqui, Tarlac, occurred on October 23, 1899, months after Aglipay's excommunication. At this assembly, Isabelo de los Reyes proposed in absentia that Aglipay, influential with the Filipino clergy, be the founding head, or Obispo Maximo, a proposal unanimously agreed upon by members present. The formal founding and public proclamation of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente is separately dated August 3, 1902.

Context. Isabelo de los Reyes, a journalist and former political prisoner, had visited the Papal Nuncio in Madrid in January 1899 to request a delegate for the Philippines. His desire for an independent church was conceptualized after these talks failed. He later campaigned for a Filipino church independent from Roman authority upon his return in 1901.