Felix Manalo

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 restorationist 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 in the final days (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 Revelation 7:2 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.