In a gruesome Good Friday ritual, eight Filipinos were nailed to crosses to reenact Jesus Christ's agony, including a carpenter who was crucified for the 34th time with a petition for Russia's assault on Ukraine to halt since it had made impoverished people like him more desperate, news agency Associated Press (AP) reported.
The real-life crucifixions in San Pedro Cutud, an agricultural community in Pampanga province north of Manila, restarted after a three-year hiatus owing to the coronavirus outbreak. Only eight individuals turned up, including 62-year-old carpenter and sign painter Ruben Enaje, who screamed as he was nailed to a wooden cross in front of a big audience in the sweltering July heat.
Enaje claimed immediately after his crucifixion that he prayed for the abolition of the COVID-19 virus and the termination of Russia's war of Ukraine, which has contributed to global petrol and food price increases.
“It’s just these two countries involved in that war, Russia and Ukraine, but all of us are being affected by the higher oil prices even if we’re not involved in that war,” Enaje was quoted by AP in its report.
Enaje informed The Associated Press before to the crucifixions that the sharp hikes in gasoline and food costs following Russia's invasion of Ukraine made it difficult for him to stretch his small income from woodwork and sign making.
Hundreds of people, including international visitors, flocked to San Pedro Cutud and two other surrounding rural towns to see the yearly religious spectacle.
Kitty Ennett, an Irish veterinarian, said the crucifixions were "a tremendously holy experience" that was worth the lengthy journey from her home in the United Kingdom.
Speaking with AP, Ennett said: “When I was seeing the young man doing the flogging and going up to the cross, it’s very moving to see how much they sacrifice for their faith."
Enaje was practically unharmed when he fell from a three-story building in 1985, inspiring him to go through the agony as a form of gratitude for what he considered a miracle.
He expanded the ceremony when one by one of his loved ones recovered from catastrophic illnesses, making him a village celebrity as the "Christ" in the Lenten recreation of the Way of the Cross.
Enaje and the other followers dragged heavy wooden crosses on their backs for more than a kilometre (more than half a mile) before their crucifixion on a dusty hill, wearing prickly crowns of twigs.
Then, village actors dressed as Roman centurions pounded 4-inch (10-cm) stainless steel nails through his palms and feet before hoisting him up on a cross for roughly 10 minutes in the sun.
Some penitents wandered through the village streets barefoot, beating their naked backs with sharp bamboo spears and bits of wood. In the past, some participants used shattered glass to open slashes in the backs of the penitents to ensure the ceremony was sufficiently bloody.
The macabre show exemplifies the Philippines' own brand of Catholicism, which combines church traditions with indigenous beliefs.
(With Inputs From AP)