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Felix Manalo (born Félix Ysagun y Manalo; May 10, 1886 – April 12, 1963), also known as Ka Felix, was a Filipino minister who founded Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), a restorationism nontrinitarian Christian church in the Philippines officially registered in 1914 (as Iglesia ni Kristo). Manalo is believed by INC adherents to be the last prophet of God Last Judgment ( Ang Tanging Sugo na may Dalawang Pagkahalal sa Karapatan) sent to reestablish the church that Jesus first founded, which they claimed to have fallen into apostasy following the deaths of the apostles. He served as the church's first Executive Minister until his death in 1963, and was succeeded by his son, Eraño Manalo.
Born in a devout Catholic family, Manalo began questioning Catholic teachings during the Philippine Revolution in the 1890s, ultimately converting first as a Methodist in 1904, then as a Seventh-day Adventist in 1911 before he began preaching what was to become the doctrine of the Iglesia ni Cristo at a neighborhood in Santa Ana, Manila, which he formally registered to the Philippine government on July 27, 1914 as a religious corporation. He was seen as the "angel ascending from the East" as mentioned in by his early followers. During his tenure as Executive Minister, he oversaw the church's early growth and rapid expansion following the Japanese occupation of the country during World War II. By the 1950s, Manalo's health had deteriorated, leaving most of his official church duties to his son Eraño. He died of peptic ulcer disease in 1963.
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 in Sampaloc. During this period, Manalo started becoming disillusioned with mainstream Catholic faith and began believing in colorumism, a syncretism of Christian and animist beliefs popular among Filipino peasants during the revolution, making secret trips to Mount Banahaw and Mount San Cristobal in southern Luzon. During the early years of the American period, Manalo became interested in Protestant doctrine that entered the country through American missionaries. In 1904, he became a Methodist, switching among Protestant denominations until 1911, when he became a Seventh-day Adventist Lay brother. After being antagonized by fellow for his colorum past, and being reprimanded for his elopement with his future wife (they were married in a different church), Manalo left Adventism in 1913, and associated himself with atheist and agnostic 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.
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, and of the daily lives of INC members. Manalo's authority over the church was so pervasive that outsiders termed the church as the Iglesia ni Manalo () and its adherents "Manalistas" for their "fanatical" obedience to the church administration. In response to the separation of congregations led by INC ministers Teofilo Ora, Januario Ponce, and Basilio Santiago, which schism severely divided the emerging church primarily in the provinces such as Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, Manalo's title as the Sugo () was introduced to church doctrine in 1922, after interpreting that Manalo is the "angel from the East" mentioned in . Ora and the ministers who went with him clashed with Manalo in terms of doctrine, such as the decreasing relevance of Jesus Christ in the INC preaching ( paksa), and how the church was run, particularly in light of reported abuses and immorality. Other changes by this time included the eventual rejection of cassock ( sutana) as clothing for ministers. Despite this, the INC had about 3,000 to 5,000 adherents in 43 or 45 congregations in Manila and six nearby provinces by 1924. Church growth, however, came with more troubles. In 1928, INC Minister Nicolas Perez of Bulacan led another significant split across church ranks. Perez protested against abuses of the church, the changing doctrine on vices and jewelry, and the controlling nature of the church administration that discourages open-mindedness and critical thinking among its members. 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). By 1936, the INC had 85,000 recruits. This figure grew to 200,000 by 1954. It expanded into the Visayas by 1937, Northern Luzon by 1938, Mindoro by 1940, and Mindanao by 1941. 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. During World War II, Manalo was offered by the Japanese to lead the all-Filipino Evangelical 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 the Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo. This was formalized through a circular issued on June 29, 1942.Pasugo, October 1965 Manalo resumed to be the Executive Minister after the war. Meanwhile, the INC's first concrete chapel was built in Sampaloc, Manila, in 1948. Adherents fleeing Manila, where the Japanese forces were concentrated during the Second World War, were used for evangelization. By 1950, Manalo himself claimed that the INC had 2 million members.Pasugo, December 1955 The 1960 Census 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. As Manalo's health began to fail in the 1950s, his son Eraño started to take leadership of the church.
The Genius Divinical College of Manila on Rizal Avenue, a non-sectarian institution headed by Eugenio Guerero, conferred on Felix Manalo the degree of Master of Biblo-Science honoris causa on March 28, 1931.
On July 27, 2007, coinciding with the 93rd anniversary of the Iglesia ni Cristo, the National Historical Institute (NHI) unveiled a marker on his birthplace in Calzada, Taguig, declaring the site as a National Historical Landmark, with the executive director of the institute, Ludovico Badoy, giving remarks. The site is maintained by the INC.Cantor, Pasugo God's Message, August 2007, pg 12) On the same year, the Philippine government declared July 27 of every year as "Iglesia ni Cristo Day".Suarez, Officials celebrate ..., The Manila Bulletin Online, July 27, 2008 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 the INC Central Temple. Philpost was sued for allegedly using public funds to support religious groups, reaching the Supreme Court of the Philippines but was dismissed, with the court holding that the stamps acknowledged the Iglesia ni Cristo but did not sponsor it.
A significant number of roads and streets were named after Felix Manalo or variants of his name in the following areas:
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