Two million Catholics at Nazarene procession in Manila

Hundreds of thousands of Catholics took part in the procession with the historic statue of Christ "Jesus Nazareno" in the Philippine capital Manila on Thursday. The church expected more than two million believers to accompany the statue, popularly known as the "Black Nazarene", to the Quiapo district.

Cardinal Jose Advincula presided over the mass before the procession began in Rizal Park and emphasised the importance of Jesus. "Our hope lives because He lives. He lives in our hearts. He lives around us. He lives with us," said Manila's Archbishop.

In his message on the feast day of the Nazarene, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. encouraged us to take Jesus as our role model. "Let us remember that we are all called to reach out to the people around us," said the head of state.

New name to draw attention to Jesus

A few weeks ago, the Archdiocese of Manila removed the word "black" from the previous official name of the statue of Jesus. The reason given for the renaming was to "draw people's attention more to the holy name of our Lord than to a colour or attribute".

The centuries-old life-size statue of a black Jesus is considered the largest shrine of Filipino Catholics. According to church tradition, the statue made of mesquite wood was carved by an Aztec sculptor in Mexico in the 16th century. Spanish missionaries brought it to the Philippines in 1606. Over the centuries, the figure of Jesus carrying the cross survived two fires, two earthquakes, typhoons and bombing raids during the Second World War. Millions of believers regularly attend the annual procession on 9 January.

The Philippines is the country in Asia with the largest Catholic majority. Almost 80 per cent of the approximately 118 million inhabitants describe themselves as Roman Catholic - a legacy of more than 400 years of Spanish colonial rule. (fxn/KNA)