Filipino villager to be nailed to a cross for the 35th time on Good Friday to pray for world peace

By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino villager says he has signed up to be nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he says he will devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea. Carpenter and painter Ruben Enaje says he and seven other villagers have registered for the real-life crucifixions, which have become an annual spectacle in Pampanga province north of Manila. The gruesome spectacle reflects the Philippines’ unique brand of Catholicism, which merges church traditions with folk superstitions. Church leaders in the Philippines, the largest Roman Catholic nation in Asia, have frowned on the crucifixions and self-flagellations but the tradition has lasted for decades.