Large crowd of Nazarene devotees joins procession ahead of papal visit

More than a million barefoot devotees paraded a centuries-old icon of Jesus Christ through Manila Friday in the Philippines' biggest religious festival, held just before Pope Francis visits Asia's bastion of Christianity.

 

In fervent displays of devotion, huge crowds of men, women and children chanted "Viva!" (Long live!) as they marched on trash-strewn streets in light rain for the annual procession of the Black Nazarene.

 

"The Lord is my healer," Lina Javal, 58, declared after waiting in line for hours to kiss the life-sized ebony statue, showing an AFP reporter the healed incision from throat surgery she underwent last month.

 

"It's an extraordinary feeling, it's like the Holy Spirit is entering my body," said the clerk from Laguna.

 

The procession, which is expected to last well into the night, got under way by mid-morning after organizers took nearly two hours to control huge crowds surging dangerously toward the icon to rub white handkerchiefs against it.

 

Many Filipinos believe the statue holds miraculous healing powers and make lifetime vows to join the annual parade, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with an image of Christ crowned in thorns.

 

Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno told a television interview that about a million people took part at the start of the procession, and many more were waiting along a circuitous route through Manila's old quarter.

 

One man died Friday when he suffered a heart attack near the statue, Johnny Yu, head of the Manila disaster office, said in a separate interview.  

 

Eight in 10 of the Philippines' 100 million people are Catholics, and the Black Nazarene festival is a display of the vibrance of the religion ahead of the papal visit which begins on January 15.

 

During his four-day trip, Pope Francis will comfort victims of super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in Leyte, and celebrate Mass for millions in the capital's largest outdoor park.

 

'Forgive my sins' 

 

First brought to Manila by Augustinian priests from Mexico in 1607, decades after the archipelago was colonized by Spain, the Nazarene statue is believed to have acquired its color after it was partially burnt when the galleon carrying it caught fire.

 

"I pray that the Nazarene continues watching over my grandson, that he is kept healthy," Manila laundrywoman Imelda Santiago, 62, told AFP.

 

She carried the two-year-old boy, who is blind in his right eye, to the parade, shielding him from the rain with a blanket.

 

Construction worker Angelo Pamarca, 30, walked an hour to join the procession with his six-year-old daughter perched on his shoulders.

 

"I ask the Black Nazarene to forgive my many sins and give me strength to resist temptation," Pamarca told AFP with a mischievous grin, declining to elaborate.

 

Aileen Amandy, 48, joined the parade with her teenage daughter to seek divine intervention in helping her children complete their studies.

 

"He always grants my prayers," Amandy said, crediting the Black Nazarene with healing a son suffering from high fever and convulsions, and keeping another son, a policeman, safe from harm. — Agence France-Presse