No fewer than 12 Filipinos would be nailed to crosses to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a gory Good Friday tradition that is rejected by the Catholic church but draws huge crowds of devotees and tourists to the Philippines.

The 12 men, including 62-year-old sign painter, Ruben Enaje, are to be nailed to a wooden cross for the 34th time in San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga province north of Manila and two other nearby villages in the country.

The real-life crucifixions in the farming village of San Pedro Cutud were resuming after a three-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Enaje said he would use his extraordinary penance, probably among his last because of his age, to pray for the eradication of the COVID-19 virus and the end of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has contributed to gas and food prices soaring worldwide.

“I really want to retire from this because of my age, but let’s see if my body can still bear the pain next year,” Enaje told AP a few days before the crucifixions.

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The father of four has been portrayed in some media reports as among the bravest men in the world for the annual feat “but to be honest, I always feel nervous because I could end up dead on the cross”.

“When I’m laid down on the cross, my body begins to feel cold. When my hands are tied, I just close my eyes and tell myself, ‘I can do this. I can do this,’” he added.

Surviving nearly unscathed when he fell from a three-story building in 1985 prompted him to undergo the ordeal as thanksgiving for what he considered a miracle.

He extended the ritual after loved ones recovered from serious illnesses, one after another, turning him into a village celebrity as the “Christ” in the Lenten reenactment of the Way of the Cross.

Ahead of their crucifixion on a dusty hill, Enaje and the other devotees, wearing thorny crowns of twigs, would carry heavy wooden crosses on their backs for more than a kilometer (more than half a mile) under the scorching heat.

Village actors dressed as Roman centurions would later hammer 4-inch (10-centimeter) stainless steel nails through his palms and feet, then set him aloft on a cross under the sun for about 10 minutes.

Other penitents walk barefoot through village streets and beat their bare backs with sharp bamboo sticks and pieces of wood. Some participants in the past opened cuts in the penitents’ backs using broken glass to ensure the ritual was sufficiently bloody.

The gruesome spectacle reflects the Philippines’ unique brand of Catholicism, which merges church traditions with folk superstitions.

Many of the mostly impoverished penitents undergo the ritual to atone for sins, pray for the sick or for a better life, and give thanks for miracles.

Church leaders in the Philippines have frowned on the crucifixions and self-flagellations, saying Filipinos can show their deep faith and religious devotion without hurting themselves and by doing charity work instead, such as donating blood.

The Star