MANILA, Philippines — An enormous crowd of principally barefoot Catholic worshipers marched Tuesday in an annual procession within the Philippines’ capital that paraded a centuries-old black statue of Jesus. Many mentioned they prayed for peace within the Middle East, the place tens of 1000’s of Filipinos work, as fears that the Israel-Hamas warfare, now in its fourth month, could unfold are rising.
Considered a significant annual Catholic occasion in Asia, the procession was canceled through the coronavirus pandemic and final yr. After pandemic restrictions eased, the statue was not paraded to discourage bigger crowds.
The procession on Tuesday took 15 hours and the gang of devotees — many in maroon shirts imprinted with the picture of the Black Nazarene — at one level swelled to greater than 2 million, based on a police estimate.
Red Cross volunteers handled greater than 360 worshipers, primarily for bruises, however not less than 5 have been hospitalized, together with one who sustained head accidents when he fell to the bottom whereas trying to climb onto the carriage carrying the statue.
Police have been on excessive alert through the incident in Manila’s Quiapo district, following a Dec. 3 bombing that killed 4 individuals and wounded dozens of Catholic worshipers attending Mass at a college within the southern Philippines. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. blamed “overseas terrorists” for the assault, which sparked a safety alarm.
Thousands of police and plainclothes officers have been deployed, together with drone surveillance and commandos positioned on rooftops alongside the route of the procession. Many close by roads have been closed off, cellular phone indicators have been blocked and other people have been banned from carrying backpacks apart from clear ones, in addition to umbrellas and from sporting caps.
The procession usually attracts large numbers of Catholics, a lot of them praying for the sick and a greater life.
Two Filipino staff have been killed within the Oct. 7 Hamas assault in southern Israel that triggered the most recent warfare. Their slayings underscored the threats confronted by overseas staff in Israel, the place about 30,000 Filipinos work — many as caregivers taking care of the in poor health, the aged and people with disabilities. The remittances Filipino staff ship again residence from the world over has helped maintain the Philippines’ fragile economic system afloat.
“I’m praying for the warfare to finish,” Rose Portallo, a 33-year-old mom of three, advised The Associated Press on the sidelines of the procession. “I pity the numerous Filipinos who’re there,” she mentioned, including that the majority of her kinfolk work in Dubai, within the United Arab Emirates.
Jeffrey Quilala, a 35-year-old prepare dinner in a Manila restaurant whose cousin works in Kuwait, mentioned he was nervous {that a} protracted Mideast battle might have an effect on world oil costs, deepening the hardships of many poor Filipinos. He walked barefoot to hitch the procession and mentioned he has participated within the non secular occasion for 15 years.
The life-size statue often called the Black Nazarene and exhibiting Jesus carrying the cross was made in Mexico and transported to the Philippines on a galleon in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship that carried it caught fireplace, however the charred statue survived. Many devotees imagine the statue’s endurance, from fires and earthquakes by the centuries and intense bombings throughout World War II, is a testomony to its miraculous powers.
Cancer survivor and businesswoman Juliet Asañon, a longtime Black Nazarene devotee, believed her prayers to the Black Nazarene and Catholic saints helped her throughout her sickness and remedy.
“I requested God for assist,” she mentioned. “I didn’t really feel any ache. … He made it simple and He cured me.”
For the primary time Tuesday, the statue was encased in glass to guard it from harm as the gang pressed across the slow-moving carriage.
The spectacle displays the distinctive model of Catholicism in Asia’s largest Catholic nation. Dozens of Filipinos have nailed themselves to crosses on Good Friday in one other uncommon custom to emulate Christ’s struggling that pulls large crowds of worshipers and vacationers annually.
A devotee reacts as he tries to dam different devotees from climbing the cart carrying the Black Nazarene throughout its annual procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension as a result of coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of principally barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession by downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace within the Middle East the place Filipino kinfolk work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) 
A glass-covered cart carrying the Black Nazarene is pulled by devotees throughout an annual procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension as a result of coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of principally barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession by downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace within the Middle East the place Filipino kinfolk work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) 
Devotees pull the statue of the Black Nazarene throughout its annual procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension as a result of coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of principally barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession by downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace within the Middle East the place Filipino kinfolk work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) 
Devotees seize the rope as they pull the glass-covered cart carrying Black Nazarene throughout its annual procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension as a result of coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of principally barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession by downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace within the Middle East the place Filipino kinfolk work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) 
A glass-covered cart carrying the Black Nazarene makes its manner by the gang throughout its annual procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension as a result of coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of principally barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession by downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace within the Middle East the place Filipino kinfolk work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) 
A devotee kisses the crucifix of the Black Nazarene throughout its annual procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension as a result of coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of principally barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession by downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace within the Middle East the place Filipino kinfolk work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) 
Devotees seize the rope as they pull the glass-covered cart carrying Black Nazarene throughout its annual procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension as a result of coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of principally barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession by downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace within the Middle East the place Filipino kinfolk work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) 
A devotee is taken away on a stretcher after being injured through the annual Black Nazarene procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension as a result of coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of principally barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession by downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace within the Middle East the place Filipino kinfolk work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)