Kakaunting kahayagan mula sa lihim na karunungan: The history of the Spiritual Filipino Catholic Church (1952-2009)

• Main Author: Talaguit, Christian Jeo N.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2021
• Subjects: Catholic Church > Philippines; Resurrection; Mysticism > Philippines; Spiritual Filipino Catholic Church (Philippines); Catholic Studies; History of Religion
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_history/4; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=etdb_history
• Institution: De La Salle University

The current study is a compilation of findings and information that the author gathered concerning the institutional history of a local group known originally as the Spiritual Filipino Catholic Church (SFCC). Although this 1952 organization currently claims to only be a mere “Filipino” version of the Roman Catholic Church in terms of doctrine, a thorough investigation revealed a fascinating dive on a doctrinally-diverse environment that connects directly or indirectly to a local mystical tradition which includes concepts such as the albularyo, orasyon, anting-anting, the divinity of Jose Rizal, and reverence to Inang Pilipinas to name just a few. Prominent scholars, such as Michael Charleston Chua, often emphasize the kapatiran or brotherhood aspects of such small groups within a context of an indifferent or hostile social environment. This was not the researcher’s discovery in the duration of the study. What was uncovered is a religious and organizational diversity, in the SFCC alone, that did not lead to institutional unity and integrity but rather the formation of opposing and schismatic factions that up to this moment are still at odds with one other. Due to the lack of written sources, the distinct and varied accounts collected were interwoven into a nearly concise historical narrative within the disciplinary lens of the Oral History methodology as standardized by Marcelino Foronda.