San Pedro Cutud - In a depiction of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, Filipino devotees were nailed to wooden crosses on Good Friday, with some saying they got nervous about doing it after watching bloody scenes of the film The Passion Of The Christ.
The Lenten ritual, opposed by religious leaders in the Philippines - South-east Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation - attracts droves of foreign and local tourists each year to the farming town of San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga province, about 70km north of the capital, Manila.
The thick crowd that sweated it out under a blistering sun on Friday included the French and Swiss ambassadors.
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Many said more people gathered than in previous years and speculated it may have been because of interest drummed up by Mel Gibson's film, which depicted in graphic detail the torture and crucifixion of Jesus.
'I got a little nervous' "I got a little nervous because what happened to him was too much," said Romelito Vergara, a 37-year-old jobless man, before lining up to be nailed to one of three wooden crosses erected on a dirt hill. He said it was his 10th crucifixion.
The Catholic devotees, including at least three women, had their palms and feet pierced to crosses with 10cm nails as a form of penance for sins, to pray for a sick relative or to fulfill a vow.
Vergara said he decided to be nailed to the cross 24 times to thank God for helping him recover from a bout with polio that temporarily crippled him several years ago and after he recovered from alcoholism. It was also a sacrifice for a prayer for the Philippines to be cleansed of drug traffickers, he said.
Dozens of men, faces shrouded by scarves and heads crowned with thorny vines, struggled around San Pedro Cutud's dusty streets carrying wooden crosses, followed by crowds of children and oglers. Some men, stripped to the waist, cut their bare backs with broken bottles attached to a piece of wood and beat their wounds with bamboo whips, causing more blood to ooze. Many visitors winced at the sight; others took photographs.
A man and a woman were also crucified in a church compound that teemed with camera-toting tourists in Paombong town, in nearby Bulacan province.
'Causing more blood to ooze' The ritual combines many Filipinos' deep religious and superstitious nature and reflects the poor devotees' longing for a better life. It has drawn mixed reactions, but large throngs of curious onlookers troop to the event each year.
Christian missionary Everett McKinney, from Seattle, Washington said the bloodletting was unnecessary because Jesus already sacrificed to atone for man's sins.
"All these flagellants, blood flowing and the beatings, we believe Jesus did all these 2 000 years ago and we don't see any necessity of imitating or doing it again," he said.
But McKinney, whose wife toted a digital video camera, said he did not want the practice to stop after becoming a popular tradition that shows Filipinos' deep religious devotion and attracts large numbers of foreigners.
"This is truly unique," he said, adding he has not seen anything like it in the dozens of countries he has visited. - Sapa-AP
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