SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines — Thousands of Filipino Roman Catholic devotees and tourists have descended on a farming village north of Manila to witness the crucifixion of several men in a reenactment of Jesus Christ’s sufferings, a gory annual tradition church leaders frown upon.
SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines — Thousands of Filipino Roman Catholic devotees and tourists have descended on a farming village north of Manila to witness the crucifixion of several men in a reenactment of Jesus Christ’s sufferings, a gory annual tradition church leaders frown upon.
Tourism officer Ching Pangilinan says at least eight men have enlisted to be crucified briefly to wooden crosses by villagers dressed as Roman centurions before thousands of spectators in northern Pampanga province’s San Pedro Cutud village.
The spectacle reflects a unique brand of Catholicism that merges Roman Catholic Church traditions with 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.
