An extreme Easter of flogging, crucifixions
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (AFP) – A man was nailed to a cross with up to 10 more to follow while barefoot men beat themselves with flails on Good Friday, in a bloodsoaked display of religious fervour in the Philippines.
Frowned upon by the Church, the ritual crucifixions and self-flagellation in the north of the country are extreme affirmations of faith performed every Easter in Asia's Catholic outpost.
Wilfredo Salvador
stared at the sky and appeared to mumble a prayer after the slight 62year-old with wild grey hair and a long beard became the first local zealot this year to hang from a wooden cross.
“I will not stop this for as long as I am alive, because this is what gives me life,” said Salvador, a fisherman who has been volunteering to be crucified for 14 straight years since recovering from a nervous breakdown.
Assistants costumed as Roman centurions drove eight-centimeter (threeinch) spikes through each of his hands and feet before the wooden cross was raised briefly for the crowds to see.
He was treated and bandaged at a first aid tent after the village square ritual – then nonchalantly walked back home.
Bulacan crucifixion
In neighboring Paombong, Bulacan, two faith healers were nailed to the cross in Barangay Kapitangan that drew a big crowd.
First to be crucified was Timoteo Mondragon, 33, of Bagong Silang, Caloocan City. It was the first “crucifixion” for Mondragon, according to his relatives. He hung from a wooden cross for five minutes.
Rogelio Marcos of Barangay Sto. Rosario, this town, was supposed to be next. But while carrying a wooden cross to the ritual site, a spiritual leader persuaded him not to proceed after the leader reportedly saw a bad omen.
It would have been Marcos’ 13th time to be crucified.
Taking his place was a 50-year-old female faith healer “Ka Precy.” She was nailed for the seventh time to the cross.
Nine other men and a woman were set to be nailed to wooden crosses in three other villages in the region within the day, the local tourism office told reporters.
Earlier Friday, hundreds of barefoot men wearing crowns of twigs and black shrouds walked silently on the side of a village road in the scorching tropical heat, flogging their backs with bamboo strips tied to a length of rope.
While many of the 80 million Filipino Catholics spend Good Friday at church or with family, others go to these extreme lengths to atone for sins or seek divine intervention in a spectacle that has become a major tourist attraction.
“This is a religious vow. I will do this every year for as long as I am able,” 38-year-old truck driver Resty David, who has been self-flagellating for half his life, told AFP.
He said he also hoped it would convince God to cure his cancer-stricken brother.
Blood and sweat soaked through the penitents' pants with some spectators grimacing with each strike of the lash.
Some hid behind their companions to avoid the splatter of gore and ripped flesh.