(Manila Bulletin) The Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), the country’s most dominant religious group other than the Roman Catholic Church has gone a long way. It has evolved to become like a prototype of sorts that other sects tried but fell short of emulating.

From the time it was established in Punta, Sta. Ana, Manila on July 27, 1914, the INC has grown beyond what many thought it would. Its community grew from a handful of adherents to what it is today – largest entirely indigenous-initiated religious organization in the Philippines comprising roughly five million members or roughly five percent of the country’s population.

The figure does not even include believers scattered in 150 countries across the globe.

Founded by Felix Y. Manalo, or Ka Felix who served as its first Executive Minister, INC has had its share of ups and downs too. However, not even the toughest controversies coming its way was enough to delude a religious organization embarking on core values.

Looking back

Ka Felix, who hailed from Barrio Tipas of the old Taguig town in the Province of Morong (now Rizal), started carving his core values during his formative years.

It was at this time that Ka Felix displayed an independent and nationalistic stance reflective of the Gomburza, the three martyred Filipino priests whose deaths awakened the resentment of the Filipinos against the Spanish friars and authorities. Interestingly, Ka Felix was 10 years old when Jose P. Rizal was executed in Bagumbayan, and a budding teenager when the Philippine Revolution broke out.