Filipino Religious Devotees are Nailing Themselves to Crosses for Good Friday

In a bloody and brutal annual tradition, devout Catholics in the Philippines paraded barefoot through the streets, whipping themselves until they bled before being voluntarily crucified in one northern province on Friday.

While the annual tradition is shocking to many, a small group of Filipino Roman Catholics see the traditional as an important display to atone for their sins and reenact the suffering of Jesus Christ.

The annual tradition marking Good Friday in some villages on the outskirts of San Fernando has become a national spectacle in the country, where a majority of residents are Catholic.

A handful of devotees paraded through the streets, self-flagellating before men dressed as Roman soldiers nailed their hands and feet to wooden crosses in a reenactment of the death of Jesus Christ, in the village of San Pedro Cutud. The injured men and women were then taken down from the cross before examiniations by doctors.

Vice Mayor Jimmy Lazatin told GMA News that roughly 50,000 participated in the annual event on Friday, called the Via Crucis, across San Fernando. While this location tends to draw the most crowds, similar reenactments were held in other villages around Pampanga.

Hooded Filipino penitents hit their back with wooden sticks during Good Friday rituals.

IMAGE: AARON FAVILA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Painter Ruben Enaje, 54, was among a half-dozen men whose hands and feet were rubbed with alcohol before locals dressed as Roman soldiers hammered sterilized nails into his flesh.

He has repeated the same act for the past 29 years as part of giving thanks after surviving a fall from a building. This year, he added a small microphone near his mouth, though a technical glitch made it difficult to hear him utter Christ's last words.

Hooded Filipino penitents walk toward the cross on April 3, 2015 in Pampanga province, northern Philippines.

IMAGE: AARON FAVILA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The tradition dates back to 1955, according to the City of San Fernando's tourism website, but it wasn't until 1962 that an actual crucifixion took place in San Pedro Cutud. The crucifixion is reenacted on a manmade hill after a street play lasting for two hours.

"Contrary to the Catholic Church’s teachings and the commercialization of the event, the fervor for the tradition stays, with the townsfolk sticking to their faith and spiritual practice, constantly remaining pure... which continues to be a source of community solidarity and strength," a statement from the city reads.

The controversial tradition has drawn criticism from religious authorities in a country where the population is 81% Roman Catholic. The extreme nature of the event led Archbishop of San Fernando Paciano Aniceto to denounce the practice in years past, saying your "body is a temple that houses the spirit."

Reenactments of the Stations of the Cross, or the final procession of Christ to his crucifixion, are not uncommon in the Catholic world. Pilgrims gather annually in Jerusalem to walk the Via Dolorosa to follow the traditional path they believe Christ walked through Jerusalem's Old City.

10 men and one woman were nailed on the wooded cross during the actual crucifixion ritual in Kapitangan village.

IMAGE: CORBIS SHERBIEN DACALANIO / PACIFIC PRESSSHERBIEN DACALANIO / PACIFIC PRESSSHERBIEN DACALANIO / PACIFIC PRESSSHERBIEN DACALANIO / PACIFIC PRESS

Despite the controversy, the shocking tradition has become something of a tourist attraction in the country's northern Pampanga province, drawing in thousands of spectators, including a handful of foreigners. In past years, foreigners were among those nailed to the cross, but this year, foreigners were banned from the actual crucifixion, according to local reports.

The banning of foreigners was mean to prevent the event from "becoming a circus," City Councilor Harvey Quiwa told The Philippine Star.

Additional information from The Associated Press.

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