Catholics pray for good health and peace in huge procession venerating Jesus statue

Devotees pull a glass-covered carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, yesterday

Hundreds of thousands of mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers marched yesterday in an annual procession in the Philippines that venerates a centuries-old black statue of Jesus. Some said they prayed for good health for their families, an end to tensions in the South China Sea, and for incoming U.S. President Donald Trump to be kinder to Filipino immigrants.

The procession marks the feast of Jesus Nazareno and is a major annual Catholic event in Asia. The image was previously called the Black Nazarene, but church officials appealed for a change, saying the former name was not founded in history and evoked a racial slur.

The procession in Manila began before dawn, with organizers putting the early crowd at around 250,000. Their number swelled later in the day, but there was no immediate updated crowd estimate. Last year, at least 2 million devotees joined the 15-hour procession, with some estimates of the crowd as high as over 6 million.

Gaspar Espinocilla, a 56-year-old Manila city employee and a devotee of Jesus Nazareno for the last 20 years, said he is praying for his family, including his sister who has ovarian cancer. He is also praying for an end to tensions in the West Philippines Sea, a part of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines, where China has been harassing Filipino fishermen and coast guard vessels.

“I hope China will ease up on us, they cannot seize everything as theirs,” said Gaspar, who was wearing a maroon T-shirt printed with face of Jesus Nazareno. “It is ours, not theirs.”

Renato Reyes, a garbage scavenger who has been a Jesus Nazareno devotee for more than three decades, said he prays for a better life for his family, for the Philippines to be free from calamities, as well as for wars overseas to end. He also said he will include in his prayers Filipinos who may be affected by Trump’s planned mass deportation of illegal immigrants.

“I hope they will not implement that because our countrymen are there just to earn a living for their families,” he added.

Thousands of police and plainclothes officers were deployed, along with drone surveillance and commandos positioned on rooftops along the nearly 6-kilometer (3.7 miles) route of the procession. Many nearby roads were closed and cell phone signals were blocked.

More than a dozen devotees were seen being carried on stretchers as ambulances were on standby for people who would fall ill.

The statue of Jesus carrying the cross was brought to the Philippines from Mexico on a galleon in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship that carried it caught fire, but the charred statue survived, according to some accounts. Church historians, however, said the statue’s color owes to the fact that it was carved out of mesquite wood, which darkens as it ages.

Many devotees believe the statue’s endurance, from fires and earthquakes through the centuries and intense bombings during World War II, is a testament to its miraculous powers. MDT/AP