Catholic zealots in the Philippines whipped their backs bloody and raw on Good Friday, as the fervently religious country marked Easter with gruesome displays of faith.
Scores of men -- their faces covered -- walked barefoot as they flogged themselves with bamboo whips under a blazing sun near the capital Manila, while others carried wooden crosses as they were beaten, in a ritual frowned upon by the Church.
"I have been doing this for 30 years since I was a young man. My devotion is that I will only stop when I can't do it anymore." Veterans of the gory spectacle display scars of previous whippings, while others endure the punishing act for the first time. "We do not encourage acts of self flagellations and crucifixions," said Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines' public affairs committee."The suffering and crucifixion of Christ is already enough to save humanity," he told AFP, adding devotees should instead "confess their sins".
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