Carpenter crucified in brutal fashion
GOOD Friday was marked around the world yesterday, including the annual real-life crucifixion in the Philippines.
A Filipino villager was nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal tradition – and he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
Over a hundred people watched on as 10 devotees were nailed to wooden crosses, among them Ruben Enaje, a 63-year-old carpenter and sign painter.
The annual religious spectacle that draws tourists in three rural communities in Pampanga province, north of Manila.
The gory ritual resumed last year after a three-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It has turned Enaje into a village celebrity for his role as the “Christ” in the Lenten reenactment of the Way of the Cross.
Ahead of the crucifixions, Enaje told The Associated Press by telephone he has considered ending his annual religious penitence due to his age, but said he could not turn down requests from villagers for him to pray for sick relatives and all other kinds of maladies.
In the 1980s, Enaje survived nearly unscathed when he accidentally fell from a threestory building, prompting him
to undergo the crucifixion as thanksgiving for what he considered a miracle.
He said: “Because my body is getting weaker, I can’t tell if there will be a next one or if this is really the final time.”
Church leaders in the Philippines, the largest Catholic nation in Asia, have frowned on the crucifixions and self-flagellations.
Filipinos can show their faith and religious devotion, they say, without hurting themselves and by doing charity work instead, such as donating blood, but the tradition has lasted for decades.
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, hundreds of Christians participated in a customary Good Friday procession through the limestone walls of the Old City, commemorating one of the faith’s most sacred days with noticeably thinner crowds amid the ongoing Israel-hamas war.
Most observers were Palestinian Christians, joined by some foreigners living in Jerusalem.