COVID-19 forces Nazarene devotees to do Panata with 'social distancing'

Nothing can stop the Black Nazarene devotees in Quiapo from performing their Good Friday panata to their patron, but the scare of the deadly COVID-19 forced them to be a little creative and orderly in keeping their vows in return for past favors.

On Good Friday, April 10, 2020, Quiapo Church parishioners and devotees of the Black Nazarene gather in an area of the  Quinta Market, several meters away from the locked doors of the church to say their prayers.

Photo by Danny Pata

Elsewhere near the Quiapo Church --popularly known as the  Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene --a devotee drives by after the police enforcing social distancing policy against the coronavirus disease barred believers from gathering  for their annual Panata around the church.

Danny Pata

For Catholic devotees, a Panata is a religious vow performed in solemn prayers and acts of homage in return for the past favors granted to them by the Black Nazarene.

Large crowds of devotees performing their Panata usually choke off  Manila's entire Quiapo Church area every Good Friday.

But the COVID-19 threat changed that annual religious scene this year. —LBG, GMA News