필리핀 이단교회(이글레시아니 그리스도): Founded by Felix Manalo in 1914, Iglesia ni Cristo exerts huge political influence in the Philippine

Powerful Philippine sect shuts down Manila

By Jason Gutierrez | AFP News – Tue, Oct 15, 2013

사진자료는 직접 제가 당일날 차안에서 찍은 사진입니다.  마닐라 중심가인 시청앞과 우체국 광장앞에서 의료 선교의 혜택을 받기 위해 줄을 서서 기다리는 필리핀 현지 사람들의 모습입니다.

More than 1.5 million people converged on the Philippine capital Monday for a powerful Christian sect's evangelical event, causing traffic chaos that shut down large parts of the megacity.

The gathering of the secretive and politically influential Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) in the historic district of Manila forced all schools and some government offices to close.

The Supreme Court, as well as some basketball games in the highly popular college league, were also suspended, while Manila's governing authority urged private employers to give their staff a paid day off to avoid the traffic.

"We really apologise for those who were inconvenienced. Maybe they can just pass this off as a minor sacrifice to help their countrymen," Iglesia ni Cristo spokesman Edwin Zaballa told AFP.

Iglesia ni Cristo, which is believed to have about three million members, held the event ostensibly as a medical and charity mission, with its followers giving aid to residents of huge slums.

Zaballa said it was also part of year-long celebrations across the country to mark the lead-up to its centenary in 2014, and "to spread the word".

Between two and three million people attended the event either as a church follower or aid recipient, according to Manila's police chief, Isagani Genade. The organisers estimated the crowd at between 1.5 million and two million people.

The event is one of many ostentatious displays of faith in the mainly Catholic Philippines, where religious leaders also wield heavy political influence.

However, not everyone attending was celebrating.

In a square fronting Manila's central post office, tempers frayed during the fierce afternoon heat as men, women and children jostled while waiting for medical care offered by the group.

"This is madness. I have been here since dawn to get a free medical check-up, but I will get more sick in this heat," said factory worker Flor Kato, a 40-year-old mother of five who was complaining of chest pains.

Several people fainted due to the heat, while others simply gave up in frustration.

Founded by Felix Manalo in 1914, Iglesia ni Cristo exerts huge political influence in the Philippines, despite being outnumbered by the country's more than 75 million Catholics.

Its followers are instructed to vote as a bloc, so politicians often seek their leaders' anointment during election season.

Its teachings are more conservative than the Catholic Church, with its followers not allowed to marry non-members.

Former members claim they were also required to give 10 percent of their salaries to the church, though Zaballa said this was not the case and instead "members are encouraged to contribute any amount they can".

When Erano Manalo, Felix's son and successor as leader of the church, died in 2009, then-president Gloria Arroyo declared the day of his funeral a public holiday.

In a major show of force last year, sect members held peaceful rallies across the Philippines to protest the ouster of graft-tainted Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona, who had known links with its leaders.

That rally was also taken as a sign of a breaking of ties with President Benigno Aquino, who had won the support of the church in the 2010 elections but then spearheaded Corona's impeachment.

Zaballa said Monday's gathering was merely an evangelical exercise.

"We do not mean it as a show of force," he said.

But Senator Miriam Santiago, a politician known in the Philippines for speaking against powerful interests, disagreed.

"There is a message behind the INC event today. If you are a politician and you don't get it, you are a fool," Santiago posted on Twitter.

 

오상훈 목사의 뷰: 지난 10월 13일 월요일 큰아들을 만나기 위해 마닐라가다가 하루 종일 차안에서 고생만 했다.  그날이 바로 이글레시아니 그리스도 교회라고 필리핀 자생 이단 교회에서 전도 집회및 의료 선교를 한다고 마닐라 전 학교를 휴교하고 교통을 통제하는 대 혼란이 벌어졌다.  위의 기사에서도 찬반이 엇갈리고 비판을 했듯이 의료 선교 진단을 받기위해 병든자들이 무더운 더위에 줄을 서서 기다리다가 쓰러지는 일들이 많이 벌어졌다고 한다.  뿐만아니라 모든 교통을 마미시킴으로 일반시민들의 불편이 이만 저만이 아니었다.  둘째 아들 석현이도 그날 수업이 없어 우리를 만나기위해 대중교통을 이용해 오다가 꼼짝 달싹 하지 못해 몇시간을 더운 해볕아래에서 기다려야만 했다.

어쨋던 대단한 종교집단으로 그들의 세력을 과시하기에 충분했다. 

아무리 유명한 개신교 부흥사가 와서 집회를 해도 이와 같은 일은 일어 나지 않았다. 

앞으로는 어느 종교 집단이나 정치 단체에서 일반시민의 불편을 주는 행사는 자제해야 하겠고, 사전에 철저한 교통편이와 안전, 시설등을 고려해 주어야 할 것이다

 

주요 기사 내용: 타이틀- 이글레시아니 그리스도교회는 엄청나게 정치적으로 필리핀에 영향을 미치기 위해 노력하고 있다라는 기사 내용입니다.  이른 새벽부터 가난한 사람들이 무료 진료라는 말에 나와서 줄을 서서 기다리는 동안에 빈약한 의료진과 준비 사항으로 기다리다가 고통을 호소하게 되고 많은 사람들이 기절하는 사태가 벌어졌다.

이 종교 집단에서는 의무적으로 월급에서 10%을 교회에 바쳐야 한다. (교회에서 내는 십일조의 의미와 다름)

결혼에 있어서도 같은 멤버들끼리만 결혼해야한다는 규정이 있다.----중략