Filipinos Celebrated Easter by Crucifying a Bunch of People Again Alice Speri - VICE
go to original April 19, 2014

Filipino Catholics commemorated Jesus's crucifixion by doing some nailing of their own. (king patindol)

It’s that time of the year. But if you’re thinking about eating chocolate eggs and Peeps, you’re getting the Easter spirit completely wrong.

That at least appears to be the sentiment of hundreds of devout Catholics in the Philippines, who spent Good Friday self-flagellating and nailing a bunch of people to the cross — a pretty literal reenactment of Jesus’ crucifixion, which the Catholic Church has frowned upon for years.

The annual ritual, which draws crowds of spectators to the streets of San Fernando, a city 50 miles north of Manila, feels like the movies. Except, it’s all real — straight from the Roman costumes and down to the real nails being hammered into real human hands.

Those who volunteered to be crucified — 20 people this year, including one Danish visitor — hung on the crosses for about 10 minutes, before being treated by nearby medics.

Read the rest at VICE

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