A group of Catholic fanatics in the Philippines celebrated Good Friday with crucifixions and whippings as part of their Holy Week rituals.
The majority of the population of this country, who are believers, celebrated Good Friday by participating in mass, but others have gone to extremes to atone for their sins in rituals that are frowned upon by the Church.
In the small town of San Juan, north of the capital Manila, hundreds of residents and tourists witnessed a bloody reenactment of the last moments of Jesus Christ.
Dozens of men paraded with their faces covered, beating each other with bamboo branches.
Blood flowed from their backs to wet their pants, also splashing into the crowd.
“I do it for my family so they can be comfortable,” said Daren Pascual, 31.
At the end of the procession, three people were escorted by men dressed as Romans and two of them were tied to wooden crosses.
Wilfredo Salvador, a thin old man, was crucified and both his hands and feet were nailed to a cross, while the crowd took photos and videos and some drones flew over the scene.
After a few minutes he was taken down from the cross.
“I do it because I want to. I thank (God) for giving me a second life”said this 66-year-old man, who began attending this celebration 15 years ago after suffering a mental breakdown.
This show is a tradition in the villages of the San Fernando area, but has been canceled for the past three years due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Source: Clarin
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