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Title: Good Friday rites in Philippines (ouch)
Source:
CNEWS (Canada)
URL Source: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/04/14/1534139-ap.html
Published: Apr 14, 2006
Author: FERNANDO SEPE
Post Date: 2006-04-14 09:12:05 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 80
Comments: 4
April 14, 2006 SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines (AP) - At least seven Filipino devotees were nailed to the cross during annual Good Friday re-enactments of Jesus Christ's final hours, organizers said. The Lenten ritual is opposed by religious leaders in the Philippines - Southeast Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic country - but it has persisted to become one of the country's most-awaited summer attractions in San Pedro Cutud village, in San Fernando city, about 70 kilometres north of Manila. The Roman Catholic devotees were crucified in batches, their palms and feet attached to crosses with 10-centimetre nails soaked in alcohol to prevent infection, to repent sins, pray for a sick relative or fulfil a vow, organizers said. Seven devotees underwent the ritual and a handful more were planning to do so later Friday, organizers said. Ruben Enaje, 45, a commercial sign maker, was nailed to the cross for the 20th time. Enaje has said it is his way of thanking God for miraculously surviving a fall from a building when he was a construction worker. San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez said more than 400 police and volunteer guards were deployed around the village, where spectators and devotees gather yearly for the event. An estimated 15,000 people turned out on Friday. The Czech ambassador was among people who travelled to San Pedro Cutud to witness the rites on a dusty mound in an open field in the farming village. British national Dominic Diamond earlier told GMA television that he planned to join the annual rite, hoping to find his lost faith in God. He said he had been suffering from insomnia and would go three or four days at a time without sleep. Diamond said he prayed to God to be released from the condition, but that it has persisted. "So I thought this was such a simple thing to ask and he could not do it," Diamond added, explaining his waning faith. When he heard about the crucifixions in San Pedro Cutud, he said realized "these people were the opposite thing, people who were so sure in their faiths." But after carrying his cross from the village centre, he backed out when it came time for the nails to go into his flesh, weeping as he pressed his head to the cross and prayed. A spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines cautioned that the traditions of flagellation and crucifixion during Holy Week trace their roots to animism and are not approved by the church. "They think that when they do that they will receive blessings for the coming year. That is not a Christian idea," Monsignor Pedro Quitorio said. "If you have Christ in you, that's enough blessing. You don't need to duplicate what he did on the cross."
Poster Comment: Worth repeating... "They think that when they do that they will receive blessings for the coming year. That is not a Christian idea," Monsignor Pedro Quitorio said. "If you have Christ in you, that's enough blessing. You don't need to duplicate what he did on the cross."
A Filipino devotee is brought down from the cross during an annual crucifixion lenten (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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#4. To: robin (#0)
he backed out when it came time for the nails to go into his flesh Good choice, stay with the insomnia.
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestHe said he had been suffering from insomnia and would go three or four days at a time without sleep. ...
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