8 men nailed to crosses to mark Good Friday as real-life crucifixions return to Philippines after 3 years
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A gruesome tradition to mark Good Friday returned to the Philippines this week after a three-year pause.
Eight devotees were nailed to crosses to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a long-standing ritual that attracts thousands of tourists and Christians to the small village of San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga province, around 50 miles north of Manila.
The extreme display of devotion, which started around 70 years ago as a painful religious rite performed by people seeking forgiveness or asking for wishes such as cures for illnesses, is rejected by the Catholic church.
This year, about a dozen people signed up to participate in the gory ritual in San Pedro Cutud, but only eight of them took part in the ceremony.
One of them was Ruben Enaje, a 62-year-old sign painter, who told reporters after his brief crucifixion he was praying for the end of both the COVID-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine.
“It’s just these two countries involved in that war, Russia and Ukraine, but all of us are being affected,” the father of four said.
Enaje — who appeared to be well after his 34th crucifixion — said he always feels nervous before the ritual “because I could end up dead on the cross.”
Participants carry heavy wooden crosses for more than half a mile while wearing crowns of thorns, and then are nailed to the cross they are carrying.
Enaje was nailed by villagers dressed as Roman centurions, who used 4-inch stainless steel nails on his palms and feet. He was then left on the cross for about 10 minutes.
Similar reenactments also take place in several villages north of Manila. Local newspaper The Manilla Times estimates that around 15,000 residents and tourists watched the bloody reenactments of Christ’s crucifixion.
Daren Pascual, 31, told the paper he takes part in the ritual for his family — “to make them healthy.”
“You just pray, then you cannot feel the pain,” he said shortly after whipping his back, during a warmup for the main event in San Juan village.
With News Wire Services
