{"id":2427,"date":"2025-01-10T12:31:20","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T12:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/10\/philippines-black-nazarene-procession-draws-hundreds-of-thousands-of-devotees\/"},"modified":"2025-01-10T12:31:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T12:31:20","slug":"philippines-black-nazarene-procession-draws-hundreds-of-thousands-of-devotees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/10\/philippines-black-nazarene-procession-draws-hundreds-of-thousands-of-devotees\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippines\u2019 Black Nazarene procession draws hundreds of thousands of devotees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of thousands of barefoot devotees joined an annual procession in the Philippines of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ on Thursday in one of the world\u2019s grandest displays of Catholic devotion and expressions of faith. <\/p>\n

Filipinos turned the streets of Manila to a sea of maroon and gold and swarmed the \u201cBlack Nazarene,\u201d a life-sized image of Jesus Christ bearing down a cross, as devotees jostled for a chance to pull the thick rope towing the carriage across the Philippine capital. <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n
A girl peeks out from the crowd during the procession in Manila on Thursday.<\/span> <\/div>
Jam Sta Rosa\/AFP\/Getty Imges<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Filipino Catholic devotees jostle to touch the carriage carrying the statue of the Black Nazarene during the procession in Manila on Thursday.<\/span> <\/div>
Eloisa Lopez\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The procession\u2019s organizers have estimated about 220,000 people attended mass before the procession, while 94,500 were in the march as of 8 a.m. (0000 GMT). That number is expected to swell as it moves along its 5.8 km (3.6 mile) route. <\/p>\n

Other devotees threw white towels at the image as marshals wiped them on its surface, believing that touching the statue would bless them and heal their illnesses. <\/p>\n

Nearly 80% of Filipinos identify as Roman Catholic, a key legacy of more than 300 years of Spanish colonization in the Philippine archipelago. <\/p>\n

The late Filipino priest and theologian Sabino Vengco said in 2019 the statue\u2019s revered black color was due to the mesquite wood used in constructing the image, debunking a longstanding myth its blackened image was due to a fire that erupted on the ship that carried it to the Philippines from Mexico in the early 17th century. <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n
A Catholic devotee kisses the carriage during the procession in Manila.<\/span> <\/div>
Jam Sta Rosa\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Filipino Catholic devotees queue to touch the Black Nazarene before its annual procession in Manila.<\/span> <\/div>
Ezra Acayan\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The procession, called the \u201ctraslacion,\u201d or translation, commemorates the transfer of the Black Nazarene from a church inside the old Spanish colonial capital of Intramuros, in present-day Manila, to its current location in Quiapo church. <\/p>\n

Cardinal Jose Advincula, Manila\u2019s archbishop, told devotees on Thursday to turn away from evil, greed and vices and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet us live up to his commandments, embrace his teachings and follow his example. It is better to follow the Beloved Lord,\u201d Advincula said in his homily ahead of the procession. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of thousands of barefoot devotees joined an annual procession in the Philippines of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ on Thursday in one of the world\u2019s grandest displays of Catholic devotion and expressions of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}