Filipino devotees self-flagellate, defying ban on gatherings

MANILA -- Barefoot and with their backs bloodied by repeated flogging, Catholic devotees in the Philippines defied a ban on gatherings on Good Friday to perform a ritual of self-flagellation as a means of atonement during Holy Week.

Participants were few compared to recent years, after authorities reimposed tight restrictions in response to a jump in coronavirus infections, worsened by the spread of more transmissible variants.

But near one church in Manila's Tondo area, about 10 devotees, wearing face masks and with the cloth cut away from the backs, struck their backs with bamboo whips swung rhythmically from left to right as they walked.

"I prayed for my parents. I'm thankful they haven't gotten sick," said 25-year-old devotee Melvin Devibar. "Even during this pandemic, I don't believe we will be affected by COVID as long as we pray."

Other, larger groups from other areas had sought to join the flagellation ritual at the Tondo church but were stopped at police checkpoints and made to turn back.

The Philippines reported a daily record 15,310 new coronavirus infections on Friday, one of the region's highest since the pandemic started, bringing its total to 771,497 cases, among the most in Asia.

Many Filipinos perform religious penance in the week leading to Easter in the hope they will be cleansed of sins and illnesses and their wishes might be granted.

But the Catholic Church, the dominant faith in the Philippines, has expressed disapproval of self-flagellation and considers it an extreme misinterpretation of faith.

It says prayers and sincere repentance are enough to commemorate Lent.

-reuters- 

PH marks Good Friday with bloody mock crucifixions

SAN FERNANDO, Philippines - Catholic zealots in the Philippines re-enacted the last hours of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, whipping their backs and nailing themselves to crosses in a grisly Easter ritual that persists despite Church disapproval.


Foreign and local tourists flocked to the outskirts of the city of San Fernando, a 90-minute drive from Manila, to see the annual spectacle where a Christian "passion play" is taken to its blood-soaked extreme.

In a vacant plot of land beneath the burning sun in the San Juan district, long nails were driven through the hands and feet of four men who took turns hanging on a cross as attendants prayed for them.

Elsewhere in the city, hooded men lashed their bloody backs with cloth and bamboo whips, doing penance for their sins while spraying onlookers with flecks of blood.

Devotees commit to undergo the mock crucifixion in exchange for a gift from God such as the healing of a sick loved one.

"I am used to it already," said Alex Laranang, 58, who was nailed up for the 14th time.

Laranang, a short, sunburnt man who sells baked buns to bus passengers, said: "It is just like a needle going through my hand. After two days, I am ready to go back to work again."

So far, he told AFP, his suffering has been rewarded as his wife and children enjoy good health and he continues to make a good living.

"I am doing this for my family, so that no one will get sick and that my livelihood will continue. I am just a poor man. But I don't ask God to make me rich," he said.

He and the three other men grimaced as the nails were pounded into their hands, but they fixed their eyes on the sky and appeared to be in a trance as they each hung on the cross for up to 10 minutes.

After they were taken down, the men hobbled off to a medical tent as Western tourists snapped pictures.

Men in other districts of San Fernando were scheduled to go through the ordeal later Friday in a demonstration of the deep religious fervour in the Philippines, which has Asia's largest Roman Catholic population.

Norwegian Charlotte Johanssen, 26, a Manila resident who was among the crowd of onlookers, said some of her visiting friends had found the sight too much to take.

"I have friends who felt sick to their stomachs and who got nauseated," said Johanssen, who works for an aid group in the Philippine capital.

"There are those who get amazed. You can't imagine how anyone can subject themselves to this kind of pain," she said.

The mock crucifixions have been going on for decades despite official disapproval from the Philippines' Catholic bishops.

"The bishops have been saying for a long time they disapprove of this. But people make such vows. They sacrifice themselves for others," said Father Francis Lucas, executive director of the Philippine bishops' media office.

"We have so many crosses to bear in life. We don't need to bear a real one," he told AFP.

The Philippines, a former Spanish colony, is home to more than 80 million Catholics and the Church wields strong influence, ensuring that divorce and abortion remain illegal.

Some Filipinos were disappointed that Manila-born Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle missed out this month when Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen at a Vatican papal conclave to succeed Benedict XVI, becoming Pope Francis.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Pope celebrates Good Friday in troubled times

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI led the world's Catholics in marking Good Friday amid a sense of growing concern over rebellion against the Church's dogmas and the fate of Christians in the Middle East.

The pope is set to preside over a sung ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica later on Friday that will commemorate the last hours of Christ's life.

This will be followed by the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) ceremony by the Colosseum, where thousands of Christians were martyred in Roman times.

The 84-year-old German pope, who turns 85 on April 16, has appeared frail and tired after returning from his trip to Mexico and Cuba last month but has taken part in Holy Week prayers with his characteristic spiritual vigour.

Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Friday in a series of ceremonies culminating on Sunday, when they celebrate Christ's resurrection.

Easter ceremonies traditionally stress the suffering of the Catholic Church and the world, an emphasis that is being particularly keenly felt this year.

The pope on Thursday issued a stern rebuke to the faithful, condemning those who questioned the Church over clerical celibacy and the ordination of women.

"Recently, a group of priests in a European country published an appeal for disobedience, giving concrete examples of how to be disobedient," he said.

"As Jean Paul II irrevocably said, the Catholic Church did not receive authorization (to ordain women) from the Lord," he added.

The pope's comments were a rare response to an "appeal to religious disobedience" launched by a group of Austrian priests in 2011.

Benedict said the priests were pushing divisive ideas at a time when the Church finds itself "in an often dramatic situation."

This year's prayers for the Stations of the Cross will also emphasize the sense of crisis for traditional family values -- a subject close to the pope's heart as shown in frequent denunciations of gay marriage and divorce.

The reflections have been written by an Italian couple, Danilo and Anna Maria Zanzucchi, from the Focolari, a lay Catholic movement that is favored by the pope for its strong sense of spirituality inspired by Saint Francis.

"There have been so many blows for our families! So many separations, betrayals! And then divorces, abortions, abandonments!" reads one of the prayers, published by the Vatican's official daily, L'Osservatore Romano.

The spiritual reflection focus on the dangers of encroaching egoism, consumerism and individualism but make no direct mention of clerical abuse scandals or to the suffering brought by conflict and poverty around the world.

This year's Holy Week celebrations take place amid concerns over the fate of Christians in the Middle East in the face of rising Islamism and violent conflict, especially in Syria which has a large Christian minority.

Donations from Thursday's mass were for Syrian war victims and the pope made a personal donation of $100,000 (77,000 euros) to the same cause last weekend.

Senior Church figures have voiced growing concern about Syria in recent days and have called for a rapid enactment of a UN plan to end the fighting.

The religious news agency I.Media said the Vatican is preparing to announce in the coming days that the pope will travel to Lebanon in September where he is expected to make a plea for peace and religious tolerance.

source: interaksyon.com