A massive crowd of mostly barefoot Filipino Catholics joined a raucous procession of a centuries-old life-size statue of Jesus Christ under extra-tight security Tuesday after the Philippines came under a disastrous militant attack last year.
Although the Philippine police and military said they have not monitored any specific threat, they deployed more than 6,000 personnel, including snipers and bomb squads backed by a surveillance helicopter and drones, to secure the annual procession of the wooden Black Nazarene along Manila's streets. By nightfall, nearly 1,000 devotees had been treated by Red Cross volunteers, mostly for minor injuries and ailments and exhaustion.
Authorities imposed a gun ban, cellphone signals were jammed sporadically in the vicinity of the procession and a team of bomb experts walked sniffer dogs along the route ahead of the crowd. Concrete barriers blocked the route, partly to prevent the kind of attacks that have been witnessed in Europe, where Islamic radicals have rammed vehicles into crowds, a military official said.
Hundreds of local and foreign militants laid siege for five months last year to southern Marawi city, leaving more than 1,100 combatants and civilians dead in the worst IS group-linked attack so far in Asia. Troops crushed the uprising in October, but an unspecified number of extremists managed to escape and other small but brutal groups in the country's south still pose threats.
Security officials said they were also concerned with possible stampedes in a dawn-to-midnight event that national police chief Ronald dela Rosa said drew about 2.6 million devotees. It's unclear how the police came up with the crowd estimate given that people joined and left the procession constantly.
Mobs of devotees in maroon shirts dangerously squeezed their way into the tight pack of humanity around a carriage carrying the Jesus statue. They threw small towels at volunteers on the carriage, which was being pulled by ropes, to wipe parts of the cross and the statue in the belief that the Nazarene's powers would cure ailments and foster good health and fortune.
Ronald Malaguinio, a 38-year-old worker, carried a small replica of the Nazarene on a steel platform bedecked with yellow and white flowers for several kilometers (miles) from his home in Manila's Tondo slum district to join the procession and pray for a son recovering from a heart ailment.
"If the doctor says your son has a 50-50 chance of surviving, where will you go?" Malaguinio asked. "If money can't cure diseases, the only other option is prayers. Ours have been heard and we're here to thank the Nazarene."
Another devotee, Jeffrey Nolasco, said he joined the procession for the fifth year in a row to pray that his four children will finish school, his impoverished family could eat three times a day and he could overcome a bad habit.
"I'm a drunkard," said Nolasco, who walked barefoot on the hot pavement and carried a small statue of the cross-carrying Nazarene.
Jim Coffin, an anthropology professor from Muncie, Indiana, said he and his wife flew in as tourists and were "absolutely moved" by the massive but peaceful procession and display of religious faith by the devotees, many of them poor.
"We watched them as they threw towels on the statue and rubbed it on their bodies," Coffin said as the procession inched its way nearby. "If the people in power appreciate how bad off the people are and they truly want to better their lives, the people in power have got to be moved by this."
Crowned with thorns and bearing a cross, the Nazarene statue is believed to have been brought from Mexico to Manila on a galleon in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship that carried it caught fire, but the charred statue survived. Some believe the statue's endurance, from fires and earthquakes through the centuries and intense bombings during World War II, is a testament to its powers.
The spectacle reflects the unique brand of Catholicism, which includes folk superstitions, in Asia's largest Catholic nation. Dozens of Filipinos have themselves nailed to crosses on Good Friday in another tradition to emulate Christ's suffering that draws huge crowds each year.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/huge-philippine-procession-secured-tightly-amid-terror-fears-044409064.html

For over four centuries, a historical and iconic miraculous statue of Jesus Christ carrying his Cross has become an emblem of passion, struggle and faith for Filipino Catholics.
The life-size statue of Jesus is enshrined in the famous minor basilica popularly known as the Quiapo Church, located in the Archdiocese of Manila. The statue has survived the blazing fires that destroyed the church twice, two earthquakes, the floods of numerous typhoons and bombings during World War II.
The church which hosts the statue never sleeps. It welcomes devotees early in the morning till late evening. During the day, it holds continuous Masses and healing services. During the night, the church shelters poor homeless people. In the early morning, the church is cleaned and again reaches out to the pilgrims and devotees.
Every year on Jan. 9, the annual feast day, millions of devotees gather to celebrate the Feast of the Black Nazarene. They take part in the spectacular religious procession known locally as the “Traslacion,” during which devotees carry a replica of the statue across Manila.
Up to 18 million participants take part in the annual procession and the festivities that surround it.
Pope Innocent X specially recognized the Philippines’ strong devotion to the Black Nazarene of Manila in 1650.
Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, the rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, said that some people wait in line for seven hours without complaint, simply to touch the image.
“They say Filipinos are resilient, but where is this resiliency coming from? It’s the practice of our faith,” he told CNA.
Msgr. Ignacio spoke more about the Black Nazarene and its related devotions. The text of the interview is below, edited for clarity and brevity.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/understanding-the-fierce-devotion-behind-the-black-nazarene-83225

CNA: What is the historical background of the Black Nazarene statue of Quiapo?
Msgr. Ignacio:  A first group of Augustinian Recollect missionaries landed in Manila in 1606 from Mexico. They brought with them a dark image of Jesus Christ kneeling on one knee and carrying a large wooden cross. The image was first enshrined in St. John the Baptist Church at Luneta in 1606 and after two years was moved to a bigger church nearby. Over a century and a half later, in 1767, the image was transferred to Quiapo Church whose patron is also St. John the Baptist.
In 2006, we celebrated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the image of Black Nazarene in Manila.


https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/understanding-the-fierce-devotion-behind-the-black-nazarene-83225

NA: Tell us more about the procession called “Traslacion” of the Black Nazarene.
Msgr. Ignacio: “Traslacion” means the transfer of the Image of Black Nazarene. In a way it is imitating the Calvary experience: the sacrifice and suffering that our Lord endured for our salvation like when Jesus was walking barefoot, carrying the cross to Mount Calvary.
The devotees also want to give back to God by participating in the suffering of our Lord and entering into the Paschal mystery of Christ.
It is also commemorating the transfer of the image from Lunetta to Quiapo, when we first received the statue in 1868. Since then, because of the many answered prayers, people have been celebrating the feast on January 9.
The barefoot procession of an almost 4.3-mile journey starts from the Quirino Grandstand at Luneta and snakes its way towards the narrow streets. Passing through the city’s winding roads, after 19 hours of spiritual euphoria, the procession eventually reaches Quiapo at the Basilica Minore de Nazareno. The devotees flood by to touch the image and throw cloths to touch the image, before receiving the cloths back. 
Our culture is a culture of touch and, significantly, in a way we want to touch heaven.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/understanding-the-fierce-devotion-behind-the-black-nazarene-83225

CNA: Tell us more about the procession called “Traslacion” of the Black Nazarene.
Msgr. Ignacio: “Traslacion” means the transfer of the Image of Black Nazarene. In a way it is imitating the Calvary experience: the sacrifice and suffering that our Lord endured for our salvation like when Jesus was walking barefoot, carrying the cross to Mount Calvary.
The devotees also want to give back to God by participating in the suffering of our Lord and entering into the Paschal mystery of Christ.
It is also commemorating the transfer of the image from Lunetta to Quiapo, when we first received the statue in 1868. Since then, because of the many answered prayers, people have been celebrating the feast on January 9.
The barefoot procession of an almost 4.3-mile journey starts from the Quirino Grandstand at Luneta and snakes its way towards the narrow streets. Passing through the city’s winding roads, after 19 hours of spiritual euphoria, the procession eventually reaches Quiapo at the Basilica Minore de Nazareno. The devotees flood by to touch the image and throw cloths to touch the image, before receiving the cloths back.  
Our culture is a culture of touch and, significantly, in a way we want to touch heaven.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/understanding-the-fierce-devotion-behind-the-black-nazarene-83225