Hundreds injured at Catholic procession
Source: Agencies |
January 10, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
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HUNDREDS of thousands of Roman Catholics joined a raucous religious procession in Manila yesterday to honor a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ that they believe possesses mystical powers. More than 450 fainted or were hurt.
Deevotees surged forward over iron railings to try and touch the 404-year-old image of Christ - known as the Black Nazarene - at the end of morning mass in a seaside Manila park, causing several injuries at the start of the procession, government doctors and the Red Cross said. At least 10 people were taken to hospitals for treatment.
About 3,500 police secured the five-kilometer route that took the statue from the park to a popular church in Quiapo district, Manila police chief Roberto Rongavilla said.
The wooden statue of Christ, crowned with thorns and bearing a cross, is believed to have been brought from Mexico to Manila in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship that carried it caught fire, but the charred statue survived and was then called the Black Nazarene.
Some believe the statue's survival of fires and earthquakes through the centuries, and intense bombings during World War II, are a testament to its mystical powers. The Philippines, Asia's most predominantly Christian nation, is about 80 percent Catholic.
Church officials said the procession was expected to last well into the night.
As the statue was pulled on a carriage through Manila's streets, swarms of worshippers jostled their way toward the Black Nazarene to touch, kiss, or wipe towels on it to acquire its believed powers.
Jose Garcia, 45, clutching a rosary in one hand, said he believed his yearly attendance at the procession had cured his crippled son who now can walk. Another son was recently diagnosed with a heart ailment that requires surgery, which he said he could never afford. "I need another miracle from God. Please senor, save my other son," he said to the statue.
In the Philippines, poverty affects about a third of the more than 90 million population.
Manila Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales said he was moved by the large turnout. "It was overwhelming seeing that sea of humanity," he said. "I asked, 'Jesus, can you see these people? Please answer their prayers.'"
Deevotees surged forward over iron railings to try and touch the 404-year-old image of Christ - known as the Black Nazarene - at the end of morning mass in a seaside Manila park, causing several injuries at the start of the procession, government doctors and the Red Cross said. At least 10 people were taken to hospitals for treatment.
About 3,500 police secured the five-kilometer route that took the statue from the park to a popular church in Quiapo district, Manila police chief Roberto Rongavilla said.
The wooden statue of Christ, crowned with thorns and bearing a cross, is believed to have been brought from Mexico to Manila in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship that carried it caught fire, but the charred statue survived and was then called the Black Nazarene.
Some believe the statue's survival of fires and earthquakes through the centuries, and intense bombings during World War II, are a testament to its mystical powers. The Philippines, Asia's most predominantly Christian nation, is about 80 percent Catholic.
Church officials said the procession was expected to last well into the night.
As the statue was pulled on a carriage through Manila's streets, swarms of worshippers jostled their way toward the Black Nazarene to touch, kiss, or wipe towels on it to acquire its believed powers.
Jose Garcia, 45, clutching a rosary in one hand, said he believed his yearly attendance at the procession had cured his crippled son who now can walk. Another son was recently diagnosed with a heart ailment that requires surgery, which he said he could never afford. "I need another miracle from God. Please senor, save my other son," he said to the statue.
In the Philippines, poverty affects about a third of the more than 90 million population.
Manila Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales said he was moved by the large turnout. "It was overwhelming seeing that sea of humanity," he said. "I asked, 'Jesus, can you see these people? Please answer their prayers.'"
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