San Fernando, Philippines - Devotees in the fervently Catholic Philippines marked Good Friday by being nailed to crosses and whipping their backs bloody, in extreme acts of devotion that attracted thousands of spectators.
The annual ritual in scorching hot farmlands just outside of Manila is one of many colourful outpourings of faith in the Southeast Asian nation, where 80 percent of its 100 million people are Catholics.
"I feel no pain because I know I am one with my God in suffering," 30-year-old construction worker Arjay Rivera told AFP before he slit his back with broken bottles and razors, later whipping himself with bamboo flails to keep the wounds open.
As the flagellants made an excruciatingly slow barefoot march to the hill in San Juan, a rural district of San Fernando north of Manila where the crucifixions were to take place, some of them stopped at times to lay face down on the hot pavement and let children flog them with twigs.
Five men had nails hammered through their palms and feet while four others, some with fake beards drawn on their faces to resemble Christ, were tied to the crosses.
They wailed in pain as attendants, costumed as Roman centurions, pounded the nails through their palms.
"My faith got me through my illness. I will continue doing this for as long as I live," one of the men, Wilfredo Salvador told AFP after he was taken down from a cross, his hands and feet wrapped in bandages.
"It was painful up there, but I felt light. I can't explain it. I would say my faith is very strong," added the 50-year-old, who said he had recovered from a nervous breakdown several years ago.
AFP
