The Choice: Islam and Christianity

Crucified or Crucipla^ed? 237

• SUNDAY NEWS. May 3 , lftftl
  DAR-ES-SALAAM

Jesus’

footsteps?

CHURCH cerned by the increasing num­Leaders are con­
ber of Filipinos submitting
themselves to Penitential whipping, beating and
(25 “crucifixion*' in a re- ^ enactment of Christ’s suf­
fering on the cross.Flagellants, beating them-
seivea or being whipped till they bleed, are a common
sight in Asia’s only Roman Catholic country during the
hotly week. On Good Friday, at least seven cases of
“cruafixion’ were reported in
thjTfeI Egg ,One of these was Luciana
Reyes, worker and the first woman a 23-year-old factory
known to have performed the ritual.
this year's events and their in­The publicity generated by
creasing sttraction to local and foreign tourists have
worried churchmen, some of whom have expressed their
distaste for the practice.Jaime Cardinal Sin, Ar­
chbishop of Manila and leader of the church here, said
he opposed this particular form of mortification and
penance because it is con­ducted publicly and it is
possible that the penitents are motivated by pride and
vainglory.The church did not en­
courage the practice nor could it forbid it, he said, because
mortification of the flesh can be good for the soul — if the
motivation is good.
tification go back through the Forms of penitential mor­
centuries and are deeply rooted in the culture of the
Philippines where 75 per cent
of the population are
Catholics.

©

in the Spanish Era’’, ac­“Flagellation was recorded

cording to National Museum Assistant Director Alfredo

Evangelista. The idea of penance was implanted by

them ”.

Pam Oscar Crux, Archbishop ot pangs Diocese, just north

of here where most of the

some features in the practice crucifixions take place, said

were not religious.There were “a good number

of fanatical elements," and

fr'cr^cifixioni’’ had some

0 "Crucifixion'’ where the touristic flavour. he said

penitent's hands are nailed to a wooden cross, is a recent ad­

dition to penitential custom in the Philippines. The first

cases to receive public noticeoccurred here in the late (^)
1960s.One reason for its increase
com plications has beenis that the danger of medical
reduced to a minimum, ac­cording to Mosignor Teoooro
Buhain, Assistant to theSecretary-G eneral o f the* (^)
Catholic Bishop's Conferenceof thePhilinoinea.
$ The ” crucifix fogs", some
shown live on television, havenow become the climax rf (^)
Easter weak in the Philip­pines. In tome eases, they at­
tract thousands of visitors toprovincial towns where the at­
mosphere it a blend of car­nival and deep mourning.
The ceremony at Bacotor in
f ~By Reg Gration
1
Pampanga was typical. Aprocession formed outside the (^)
town early on Good Fridaymorning with the flagellants (^)
men dragging huge woodenin front followed fay' three^
croaeas,
dest naiion — a small churchw Her. they reached their^
yard away from the centre oftown — the flagellants beat
their follow-penitents on the«rmi and back.
penitents were nailed to theirA little after midday the^
croeeea and raised up forabout a minute.
beinf removed from the crossOne man fainted. After^
waiting he had to be carried to abun Another was up^
soon 3fje<rm his hands were bah-
said thty had been membersThe group in the procession^
of s criminal gang and wan­ted “to atone for the bad we
did then, and to improve the
prosperity of our families.”In the nearby town of San
Fernando;. som e 25,000people, many of them tourists, (^)
watched as four men werenailed to crosses in two
separate ceremonies.Unc of them Mario Bagtas,
a ib-year-old vendor, )a j
gone through the ritual lo rthe fifth time and, like the (^)
ba color p enitents, hepromised to return next year.
He said he had vowed to
perform the "gruci fix ions” for ®10 years aTter hi»~ wife
recovered from cancer.