---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Dengan mengClick banner sponsor anda menyumbang Rp. 1000,- untuk HomePage IndoNews. ---------------------------------------------------------- April 2, 1999 Web posted at: 3:22 AM EST (0822 GMT) CUTUD, Philippines, April 2 (Reuters) - About half a dozen men had themselves nailed to crosses in the Philippines on Good Friday to re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ despite the strong disapproval of the country's powerful church. The ritual, held annually on a small hillock in the midst of lush rice paddies in Cutud, a town about 85 km (50 miles) north of Mamila, attracted thousands of spectators, mostly foreigners. They stood in the searing midday sun to watch the men being hoisted one after the other onto three black wooden crosses with three-inch (7.6 centimetre) nails driven into their palms for up to 20 minutes each. "I have been doing this for 17 years," said Bob Velez, a 59-year-old assistant to a local basketball team, who was among the first to be nailed to a cross. A man portrays Christ on the cross The slim, muscular man, dressed only in a gold-inlaid white loin cloth, wore a wig with flowing locks and had a straggly beard, with images of the Virgin Mary and Jesus tattooed onto his arms. "My son is sick, I am doing this to end his sickness," he said. Later, before walking back through the puddles around the hillock left by rain overnight, he showed his palms, one of which was almost clean and the other which had a few spots of blood. The wounds, he said, would heal within three days. Earlier, hundreds of young men paraded through the streets of Cutud beating their backs with a clutch of short bamboo sticks attached to a thong, seeking penitence for sins committed. Blood spurted from their wounds, splattering onlookers and drenching the earth-packed roads. Young men paraded the streets of Cutud beating their backs seeking penitence for sins "At least 20,000 people have come to watch this ritual," said Colonel Napoleon Cuaton, the police chief of Cutud. Asked why people came to Cutud to re-enact the crucifixion, he said: "This is a very religious community and almost everyone is a practising Catholic." But the church in the Philippines, Asia's only predominantly Catholic country, has said it is trying to discourage the ritual, which it says smacks of pagan beliefs. "I have never seen this anywhere else, this is a Philippine tradition," said one onlooker, a Catholic from the southern Indian state of Kerala on a visit to the country. But for the people of Cutud, it is a time to make money. Kiosks selling soft-drinks, bottled water and hand-held fans sprang up in the front-yards of houses, empty plots of lands were turned into car-parks. "We prepare for this day for months," said Cuaton, the police chief. "It is our biggest day in the year." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 2 Apr 1999 jam 23:45:40 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
