MB Civic

SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines — Thousands of people gathered in Philippine villages to watch devotees being nailed to crosses as they marked Good Friday by re-enacting Jesus Christ’s suffering, a yearly rite that continues even as church leaders discourage the practice.

Nine men wearing crowns of twigs on their heads were crucified for a few minutes by villagers dressed as Roman centurions in northern Pampanga province’s San Pedro Cutud village. At least eight other people were nailed to crosses in neighboring villages.

The spectacle reflects a unique brand of Catholicism that merges church traditions with Philippine folk superstitions.

Many of the mostly impoverished penitents undergo the ritual to atone for sins, pray for the sick or a better life, or give thanks for what they believe were God-given miracles.

Friday’s crucifixion was the 26th for Ruben Enaje, a 51-year-old sign painter. He began his yearly rite after surviving a fall from a building.

Hours after his palms and feet were nailed to a cross, Enaje, a grandfather of four, said he felt fine and had already walked to the village captain’s house.

“I feel good because my suffering has ended,” he said.

Prior to the crucifixions, dozens of male penitents walked several kilometers (miles) through village streets, beating their bare backs with sharp bamboo sticks and pieces of wood. Some of the penitents had their backs inflicted with cuts to keep them bloody.

“We do not judge and condemn, but we discourage it,” Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said of the crucifixions.