11 devotees nailed to cross, British national backs out

At least 11 Filipino devotees were nailed to the cross during annual Good Friday reenactments of Jesus Christ’s final hours in barangay (village) San Pedro Cutud in San Fernando, Pampanga. A British national who earlier volunteered to be nailed to the cross with the devotees backed out. The Lenten ritual is opposed by religious leaders in the Philippines but it has persisted to become one of the country's most-awaited summer attractions. The Roman Catholic devotees were crucified in batches, their palms and feet attached to crosses with four-inch nails soaked in alcohol to prevent infection, to repent sins, pray for a sick relative or fulfill a vow, organizers said. Ruben Enaje, a 45-year-old commercial sign maker, was nailed to the cross for the 20th time. Enaje has said it is his way of thanking God for miraculously surviving a fall from a building when he was a construction worker. Dominik Diamond, a British journalist, cried after backing out from the crucifixion. Diamond earlier said he wanted to be crucified as part of his journey to rediscover his faith. Diamond, a Scot, joined other devotees and carried a cross earlier in the day. He, however, backed out when his turn came to be crucified. He knelt before the cross and cried. Diamond's crucifixion was supposedly filmed by Ginger TV for a documentary, titled "Crucify Me." Diamond, a Roman Catholic from Arbroath, Angus, who came to the Philippines from Scotland via Italy, was earlier quoted as saying that world events and personal incidents had left him questioning his faith. "My religion was central to my life until five years ago, when a combination of public and private events made me question my beliefs," he was quoted as saying. "I`m hopeful that this journey will help resolve my crisis of faith," he said. "I`ve been making a living in the media now for 15 years, I`m in my mid-thirties and I`ve got three kids. It`s about time I did something that didn`t involve cheap gags," he added. Diamond said: "So if you`re going to make the first serious program you`ve ever done, you might as well aim high. So I thought I`d try to find God." As part of his journey, Diamond visited the Vatican and a Jesuit retreat in Italy to decide whether his faith was restored enough to undertake the crucifixion ritual in the Philippines. British national Dominic Diamond earlier told GMA television that he planned to join the annual rite, hoping to find his lost faith in God. He said he had been suffering from insomnia and would go three or four days at a time without sleep. Diamond said he prayed to God to be released from the condition, but that it has persisted. "So I thought this was such a simple thing to ask and he could not do it," Diamond added, explaining his waning faith. But when he heard about the crucifixions in San Pedro Cutud, he said he realized "these people were the opposite thing, people who were so sure in their faiths." But after carrying his cross from the village center, he backed out when it came time for the nails to go into his flesh, weeping as he pressed his head to the cross and prayed. San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez said more than 400 police and volunteer guards were deployed around the village, where spectators and devotees gather yearly for the event. An estimated 15,000 people turned out on Friday. The Czech ambassador was among people who traveled to San Pedro Cutud to witness the rites on a dusty mound in an open field in the farming village. A spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines cautioned that the traditions of flagellation and crucifixion during Holy Week trace their roots to animism and are not approved by the church. "They think that when they do that they will receive blessings for the coming year. That is not a Christian idea," Monsignor Pedro Quitorio said. "If you have Christ in you, that's enough blessing. You don't need to duplicate what he did on the cross." GMANews.TV, with reports from the Associated Press