CEBU CITY, Philippines, April 6 (UPI) -- The crucifixion of Jesus was reenacted Friday in villages in the Philippines in spite of Catholic leaders warning against the ritual.
In one village, San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga, nine men, wearing crowns of thorns, were nailed to crosses for a few minutes by neighbors costumed as Roman centurions, the Sun Star Cebu reported.
Three men were nailed to crosses in Cebu City, one representing Jesus Christ and the others the two thieves executed with him.
While Good Friday practices in other countries may include emotional processions, actual crucifixion is unique to the Philippines. The ritual is not sanctioned by the church.
"We do not judge and condemn, but we discourage it," Archbishop Jose Palma, head of the Cebu archdiocese and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said.
The Rev. Melvin Castro said the church asks the faithful to make "internal sacrifices."
"The church's position is there's no need to go through this physical and literal pain on the body because Christ already did that for us," he said.
