Anguille
Bane of the Urbane
- Mar 8, 2008
- 17,910
- 2,266
- 48
Why do people do this?
SAN FERNANDO, Philippines — Filipino faithful had themselves nailed to crosses yesterday to remember Jesus Christ’s suffering and death — an annual rite rejected by church leaders in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.
At least 23 people were nailed to crosses in three villages in northern Pampanga Province’s San Fernando city to mark Good Friday, with foreigners banned from taking part this year except as spectators, said Ching Pangilinan, a city tourism officer and one of the organizers.
She said the ban was imposed after some foreigners took part in previous years to make a film or make fun of the rites.
The event yesterday drew more than 10,000 Philippine and foreign spectators, she said.
Many gathered at San Pedro Cutud, a farming village where devotees dressed in robes and tin crowns walked to a dusty mound carrying wooden crosses on their backs. At the mound, men nailed their hands and feet to the crosses.
Devoted Filipinos nailed to crosses - The Boston Globe
SAN FERNANDO, Philippines — Filipino faithful had themselves nailed to crosses yesterday to remember Jesus Christ’s suffering and death — an annual rite rejected by church leaders in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.
At least 23 people were nailed to crosses in three villages in northern Pampanga Province’s San Fernando city to mark Good Friday, with foreigners banned from taking part this year except as spectators, said Ching Pangilinan, a city tourism officer and one of the organizers.
She said the ban was imposed after some foreigners took part in previous years to make a film or make fun of the rites.
The event yesterday drew more than 10,000 Philippine and foreign spectators, she said.
Many gathered at San Pedro Cutud, a farming village where devotees dressed in robes and tin crowns walked to a dusty mound carrying wooden crosses on their backs. At the mound, men nailed their hands and feet to the crosses.
Devoted Filipinos nailed to crosses - The Boston Globe