Felix Manalo
Executive Minister
Manalo's U.S. passport application picture, 1920
Church	Iglesia ni Cristo (registered in 1914 asIglesia ni Kristo)[1]
In office	July 27, 1914 – April 12, 1963 (48 years, 8 months, 16 days)
Predecessor	Position established
Successor	Eraño G. Manalo
Orders
Ordination	December 25, 1918 by Alejandro Reyes (IEMELIF), Victoriano Mariano (IEMELIF), Gil Domingo (Iglesia de los Cristianos Filipinos), Guillermo Zarco (Presbyterian Church), Emiliano Quijano (Iglesia ni Cristo 1901)[a], Nicolas Fajardo (Evangelical Church), Roque Bautista (Evangelical Church)
Personal details
Born	Félix Ysagun y Manalo (1886-05-10)May 10, 1886 Calzada Tipas,Taguig,Manila,Captaincy General of the Philippines,Spanish Empire
Died	April 12, 1963(1963-04-12) (aged 76) Quezon City, Philippines
Buried	Iglesia ni Cristo Locale of F. Manalo-San Juan,San Juan, Metro Manila
Nationality	Filipino
Denomination	FilipinoProtestantism[2][b]
Parents	Mariano Ysagun, Bonifacia Manalo
Spouse	Tomasa Sereneo ​ ​ (m. 1910; died 1912)​ Honorata de Guzmán ​ ​ (m. 1913⁠–⁠1963)​
Children	7, includingPilar,Eraño andBienvenido

Felix Manalo (bornFélix Ysagun y Manalo; May 10, 1886 – April 12, 1963), also known asKa Felix, was a Filipino minister who foundedIglesia ni Cristo (INC), arestorationistnontrinitarianChristian denomination in the Philippines officially registered in 1914.^[3] Manalo is believed by INC adherents to be thelast prophet of Godin the final days, sent to reestablish the church thatJesus founded, which they claimed to have fallen intoapostasy following the deaths of theapostles.^[c] He served as the church's firstExecutive Minister until his death in 1963, and was succeeded by his son,Eraño Manalo.

Born in a devoutCatholic family, Manalo began questioning Catholic teachings during thePhilippine Revolution in the 1890s, ultimately converting first as aMethodist in 1904, then as aSeventh-day Adventist in 1911 before he began preaching what was to become the doctrine of the Iglesia ni Cristo at a neighborhood inSanta Ana, Manila, which he formally registered to thePhilippine government on July 27, 1914 as areligious corporation. He was seen as the "angel ascending from the East" as mentioned inRevelation 7:2 by his early followers.^[4] During his tenure as Executive Minister, he oversaw the church's early growth and rapid expansion following theJapanese occupation of the country duringWorld War II. By the 1950s, Manalo's health had deteriorated, leaving most of his official church duties to his son Eraño. He died ofpeptic ulcer disease in 1963.

Manalo was born as Felix Ysagun in Barrio Calzada, Tipas,Taguig,Manila province (nowCalzada, Taguig,Metro Manila) on May 10, 1886, the eldest child of Mariano Ysagun y Villanueva and Bonifacia Manalo y Cruz.^[5] While records of hisbaptismal was lost, because parish records would only go back as early as June 1886, it is believed that he was christened on May 18, the feast day ofFelix of Cantalice, most likely his namesake given the common practice of Catholic Filipino families during that period to name their child after saints whose feast fall on the date of birth or baptismal.^[6] Raised to a poor rural family, he received little formal education. His father died when he was two to three years old, from which he began using his mother's last name Manalo.^[6][7] At the age of seven, Manalo was said to have attended classes under a certain "Maestro Cario" in Manila. His studies were interrupted by thePhilippine Revolution in 1896, prompting him not to pursue further formal education, and turn to farming andhatmaking instead.^[8]

Manalo began questioning Catholic teachings by the late 1890s. He resided in Manila at his uncle Mariano Borja, a Catholic priest assigned to a local parish inSampaloc. During this period, Manalo started becoming disillusioned with mainstream Catholic faith and began believing incolorumism, asyncretism of Christian andanimist beliefs popular among Filipino peasants during the revolution, making secret trips toMount Banahaw andMount San Cristobal in southern Luzon. During the early years of theAmerican period, Manalo became interested in Protestant doctrine that entered the country through American missionaries. In 1904, he became aMethodist,^[9] switching among Protestant denominations until 1911, when he became aSeventh-day Adventistlay preacher.^[d][11] After being antagonized by fellowAdventists for hiscolorum past, Manalo leftAdventism in 1913, and associated himself withatheist andagnostic peers. Frustrated with the doctrines of foreign denominations, he soon began personally studying the Bible which culminated in November 1913 when he concluded that a fresh examination of the Bible is needed from a non-Western perspective.^[7][12]

In November 1913, Manalo began a three-day fast and meditation at a friend's house inPasay, writing his core doctrine.^[12] He proposed founding a new church in Asia, which he named "Iglesia ni Kristo" (INK),Tagalog for "church of Christ". He started preaching his doctrine in Punta, a neighborhood inSanta Ana, Manila, and his hometownTaguig. He later baptized a few converts, including some of his persecutors, along thePasig River on December 25, 1913. They formed the first members of the church. He eventually attracted more followers. Among those he invited to become ministers of his new church would be BishopNicolas Zamora ofIEMELIF, who was then leading an 11,000-memberMethodist church (Zamora refused the offer).^[e] Prompted by concerns that his evangelism and propagation efforts for the new church might be illegal^[14], Manalo registered the Iglesia ni Kristo (INK)^[1] at thePhilippine government on July 27, 1914 as asolereligious corporation^[f], the date now officially acknowledged by the INC as its foundation date.^[9][12][7] Manalo went twice to the United States to study religion in Protestant-managed schools, first in 1919, and later in 1938.^[12][17][g] Expansion followed as the INC started building congregations in the provinces as early as 1916.^[19][7] Early church members were said to be mostly uneducated and coming from the lower socioeconomic classes, the ministers included.^[8]

Throughout his lifetime, Manalo is seen by his followers as the ultimate authority on the church affairs, including its theology and bureaucracy, even approving the architectural design of its distinctive churches. In response to the separation of congregations led by expelled INC ministers Teofilo Ora, Januario Ponce, and Basilio Santiago, Manalo's title as theSugo (transl. Messenger) was introduced to church doctrine in 1922, after interpreting that Manalo is the "angel from the East" mentioned inRevelation 7:2. Manalo's authority over the church was so pervasive that outsiders termed the church as theIglesia ni Manalo (transl. Church of Manalo) and its adherents "Manalistas".[7] During its formative years, Manalo and his followers experienced persecution from Catholics, which ranged from stoning to beatings. In 1922, the church lost buildings and congregations, mainly inBulacan andNueva Ecija, in a brief rebellion. Despite this, the INC had about 3,000 to 5,000 adherents in 43 or 45 congregations in Manila and six nearbyprovinces by 1924.^[7] According to Teodoro Santiago, the third INC Minister to be ordained in the church, Manalo began to openly reject the deity of Christ around the year 1932, but still maintained that Jesus is Lord (Panginoong Hesukristo).^[14] By 1936, the INC had 85,000 recruits. This figure grew to 200,000 by 1954.^[19] It expanded into the Visayas by 1937, Northern Luzon by 1938, Mindoro by 1940, and Mindanao by 1941.^[7] By 1938, Manalo threatened the INC brethren that he would leave the church and start anew, prompting a circular issued by Teodoro Santiago to submit their respective explanations (salaysay) to keep the church united.^[20] DuringWorld War II, Manalo was offered by theJapanese to lead the all-FilipinoEvangelical Church of the Philippines (福音教会). His refusal led to Japanese suspicion and surveillance, to the point that Manalo acceded to the Japanese demand to have Prudencio Vasquez, division minister of Nueva Ecija and later of Bicol, as theExecutive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo. This was formalized through a circular issued on June 29, 1942.^[21] Manalo resumed to be the Executive Minister after the war. Meanwhile, the INC's first concrete chapel was built inSampaloc, Manila, in 1948.^[22] Adherents fleeing Manila, where theJapanese forces were concentrated during theSecond World War, were used for evangelization.^[7] By 1950, Manalo himself claimed that the INC had 2 million members.^[8][23] The 1960Census in the Philippines, however, showed adherents totaling to 270,104. By 1955, the overall educational attainment of INC members had also improved, with an estimated 35 percent of its total membership being considered literate. This is, however, lower than the national literacy rate of 75 percent in the same year.^[8] As Manalo's health began to fail in the 1950s, his sonEraño started to take leadership of the church.

Manalo's health started to deteriorate in the 1950s. On April 2, 1963, Manalo was confined to hospital for treatment ofpeptic ulcer disease. Days later, on April 11, doctors performed a surgery on him for his ulcer, from which he did not recover.^[24] He died in the early hours of April 12 at the age of 76. Leadership of the church was passed two weeks later to his son,Eraño, who was chosen unanimously by the district ministers as his successor in 1953.^[25] His remains were viewed by mourners inSan Francisco del Monte, Quezon City.^[26] On April 23, he was buried at what was then the central office of the Iglesia ni Cristo inSan Juan,Rizal.^[27] The local police estimated the crowd at the funeral procession to have been two million, and the rite took five hours.^[28]

Coinciding with the fifth (5th) anniversary celebration of the INC, the ministers of theIglesia ni Cristo 1901 (Christian Mission) honored him on December 25, 1918, as an outstanding evangelist.^[3]

The Genius Divinical College of Manila onAvenida Rizal, a non-sectarian institution headed by Eugenio Guerero, conferred on Felix Manalo the degree of Master of Biblo-Sciencehonoris causa on March 28, 1931.^[25]

On July 27, 2007, coinciding with the 93rd anniversary of the Iglesia ni Cristo, theNational Historical Institute (NHI) unveiled a marker on his birthplace inCalzada, Taguig, declaring the site as aNational Historical Landmark, with the executive director of the institute,Ludovico Badoy, giving remarks. The site is maintained by the INC.^[29] On the same year, the Philippine government declared July 27 of every year as "Iglesia ni Cristo Day".^[30] On May 10, 2014, coinciding with his 128th birth anniversary,Philpost controversially released a commemorative stamp celebrating the 100th year of the church's registration in the Philippines, which featured a portrait of him against the backdrop of theINC Central Temple.^[31] Philpost was sued for allegedly using public funds to support religious groups,^[32] reaching theSupreme Court of the Philippines but was dismissed, with the court holding that the stamps acknowledged the Iglesia ni Cristo but did not sponsor it.^[33]

The main road in Punta, Santa Ana, Manila, where he first began preaching, is named after him.

• Manalo, Felix Y. (1936).Mga katotohanang dapat malaman ukol sa mga aral ng Iglesia Katolika Apostolika Romano [Truths That Must Be Learned About the Apostolic Roman Catholic Church] (in Tagalog). Manila: P. Vera.
• Manalo, Felix Y. (1947).Ang Sulo Sa Ikatitiyak Sa Iglesia Katolika Apostolika Romana [The Torch of Certainty of the Apostolic Roman Catholic Church] (in Tagalog). Quezon City: Ang Pasugo.

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