Fourteen people were nailed to crosses and hundreds were whipped in Cutud
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Good Friday crucifixions in Philippines
Devotees re-enacted Jesus’s crucifixion in gory scenes while millions of other less extreme faithful across the Catholic Philippines prayed with their families on Good Friday.
A handful of people are traditionally nailed to crosses while hundreds more have their backs whipped until they bleed in Asia’s major Catholic outpost, to remember the day when Christians believe Jesus Christ died 2,000 years ago.
In the small farming town of Cutud, a couple of hours’ drive north of Manila, thousands of tourists gathered to watch what has over the years become the biggest and bloodiest Good Friday spectacle.
Fourteen people were nailed to crosses and hundreds were whipped as they walked through the town, their blood splattering onto the ground and walls of buildings.
The most senior of those nailed to a cross, Ruben Enaje, 50, said he was going through the ordeal this year for the 25th time as a way of giving thanks to God for allowing him to survive an accident unscathed.
“I will do this for as long as I can endure it,” Enaje told reporters.
Enaje, playing the part of Jesus, was led by villagers dressed as Roman centurions to a hill on the outskirts of town.
Nails were driven through Enaje’s palms and he hung on the cross for 10 minutes while grimacing in pain, before being taken down so that the others could take their turns.
The Catholic Church has discouraged the practice and criticised the organisers of the Cutud event for commercialising Good Friday in an effort to attract tourists, but the “penitentes” were unapologetic.
“If they only respected our panata (sacred vows). This comes from the depths of our heart. We are not showing these off, we have our own beliefs,” Enaje said before he was nailed to cross.
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