An unusual Holy Week tradition continued in the Philippines this year amid pushback from the public and even Catholic Church authorities.
Citizens of the Philippines crucified eight men on Good Friday in observance of Good Friday. This reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a tradition among the people of San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga, according to AP News.
The tradition had been suspended since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While roughly a dozen men signed up to take part in this resurgent tradition, only eight ended up joining in.
The tradition is meant to mirror the events of the Passion narrative with vivid realism.
Participants in the tradition wore makeshift crowns of thorns and carried wooden crosses on their backs over half a mile up a hill.
Other villagers walked barefoot through the streets and beat the backs of the participants with sharpened wooden objects and bamboo. Some citizens reportedly used broken glass to cut the participants to ensure that the reenactment was as bloody as the original event.
Villagers dressed as Roman centurions then hammered stainless steel nails into the hands and feet of participants before setting them up on the crosses for ten minutes.
Some leaders of the Catholic Church have already spoken, denouncing this tradition and the harm it causes to participants. Other church leaders have said exercises like these are a result of the Church neglecting to teach proper Christian tradition.
“The question is, where were we church people when they started doing this?” asked Robert Reyes, a Catholic priest in the Philippines, according to AP News.
The Catholic Church in the Philippines has previously criticized the display as a “misrepresentation of faith,” according to reporting by Reuters.
Johnson Gareth, a British tour organizer who brought tourists to watch the tradition take place, said that it is a far cry from what public opinion may suspect.
“It’s less gruesome than people think,” said Gareth, according to AP News. “They think it’s going to be very macabre or very disgusting but it’s not. It’s done in a very respectful way,” he continued.
Ruben Enaje, one of the participants, said following the event that this was his 34th time taking part in the tradition. He had intended to stop this year due to his age but ultimately decided he would make up his mind prior to next year’s Lent.