SAN JUAN, Philippines: Catholic fanatics were nailed to wooden crosses while others whipped their backs bloody and raw in gruesome displays of religious devotion on Good Friday in the Philippines.
While most people in the Catholic-majority country spend the day with their families or at Mass, some seek divine intervention in rituals frowned on by the Church or go to extreme lengths to atone for sins.
In North of Manila, in San Juan village, hundreds of tourists and residents watched a blood-soaked re-enactment of the last moments of Jesus Christ, according to AFP.
Dozens of men walked barefoot through narrow streets, blood running down their backs, soaking their trousers and splattering spectators crowded in front of houses and shops.
When their wounds stopped oozing blood, their skin was punctured with razor blades or a wooden mallet embedded with glass shards to make them bleed. Daren Pascual, 31, said that after whipping his back in a warmup for the main event, he did it to keep his family healthy; he said that if you just pray, you can’t feel the pain.
In the final act, three men were led by costumed Roman centurions to a dirt mound, where two were bound to wooden crosses. Wilfredo Salvador, a small and wiry former fisherman who played the role of Jesus Christ, had nails driven through his palms and feet as tourists snapped photos and videos.
After a few minutes, the nails were pulled out, and Salvador was lowered to the ground. He was taken on a stretcher to the medical tent for a check-up before being transported home in a tricycle taxi. Salvador, 66, who began participating in the crucifixion 15 years ago after suffering a mental breakdown, said that God provided him with physical strength, unlike others who cannot bear it.
The spectacle has been performed in villages surrounding San Fernando City for decades, but the crucifixions have been cancelled for the past three years due to Covid-19. The health department warned participants that they were at risk of contracting tetanus and other infections. According to Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ public affairs committee, the crucifixion of Christ is more than enough to save humanity from sin.
