Philippines Stages Bloody Crucifixions to Mark Lent ChannelNewsAsia.com
go to original March 29, 2013

The gruesome real-life re-enactments of the crucifixion, which are held every Good Friday, are frowned on by the Catholic church but have become freak tourist draws. (154thmedia2012)

SAN FERNANDO, Philippines - Roman Catholic fanatics in the Philippines had themselves nailed to the cross in a bloody display of religious frenzy as the Christian world marked the day Jesus was crucified.

The gruesome real-life re-enactments of the crucifixion, which are held every Good Friday, began in the farming region north of Manila. They are frowned on by the Catholic church but have become freak tourist draws.

Faith healer Arturo Bating, 44, spread his arms and maintained stoic calm as neighbours hoisted him onto a wooden cross atop a sandy mound then drove 10-centimetre (four-inch) nails through his palms.

"This is a vow I had made to God, so that He will spare my family from sickness," the penitent, swathed in a white robe, told AFP after his ordeal, which lasted several minutes and was seen by hundreds of people.

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