MANILA, Philippines – Hailed as a progressive move towards inclusivity, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) ordained its first trans woman clergy during an emotional three-hour service steeped in ritual on Friday, February 24, at the IFI National Cathedral.

Reverend Wylard “Wowa” Ledama, 28, was consecrated as deacon by IFI Supreme Bishop Rhee Timbang before a diverse congregation composed of family, clergy, the laity, advocates, and representatives from other Christian churches. 

A native of Pagadian City and a nurse by profession, she entered the Aglipay Central Theological Seminary in Pangasinan as its first trans woman seminarian after being moved by the IFI bishops’ 2017 statement “Our Common Humanity, Our Shared Dignity” affirming LGBTQI+ persons.

Ledama, in her address to the congregation, thanked the IFI for its “brave step of accepting diversity.” But she also recalled the many struggles of being “the first,” such as discrimination and even attempted rape by three of her fellow seminarians.

“We still have many things to do, para makuha namin ang full inclusion at welcoming ambience in our church,” Ledama said.

She also expressed optimism over the prospects of transgender clergy taking leadership positions in the church, citing the IFI’s progress in ordaining women. 

“Magkakaroon ba tayo ngayon ng trans woman na pari? Hindi ‘yun mahirap. At hindi ‘yun isang question para sa atin. Magkakaroon din ba ng obispong trans woman? By the spirit of God, by the enlightenment, and the Holy Spirit, magkakaroon. Hindi man ngayon, but soon. At ‘yang soon na ‘yan, makakamit pa rin natin.”

(Will there be a trans woman priest? That is not difficult. And it is not a question for us. Will there be a trans woman bishop? By the spirit of God, by the enlightenment, and the Holy Spirit, there will be. Perhaps not now, but soon. And that ‘soon,’ we will still achieve that.)

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The IFI first ordained women to the priesthood in 1997. In 2019, the church ordained its first woman bishop, the Right Reverend Emelyn Dacuycuy.

Established in 1902 by Isabelo delos Reyes and Father Gregorio Aglipay as a protest against the abuses of the Spanish Catholic clergy, the IFI is known to espouse nationalist and progressive views on issues of social justice.  

In her sermon, Kakay Pamaran of the Union Theological Seminary and the LGBTQI+-affirming Metropolitan Community Church called Ledama’s ordination as a “historical” and “revolutionary” act by the IFI. “The IFI transfigures and bids us to wake up, to look, and to see the light that is in all of us…and all of creation,” she said.

Pamaran also lamented how many Christian churches have become a “religion[s] of exclusion.” “We all spend a lot of time, and energy, resources deciding and arguing over which right thing to believe or who to allow in or who to keep out based on what they believe, or how they act, or how they love, or how they identify,” she said.

Recognizing the joyous, “mountaintop” experience of Ledama’s ordination, Pamaran reminded those present of the many challenges that lie ahead.

“The call of Jesus remains the same…Jesus calls us to love, to lay down our lives for the sake of those we serve. We cannot stay in this mountain. We have to go back – back to the churches that we serve, back to our communities we minister to, back to the work of transformation of ourselves and of the world,” she said.

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– Rappler.com