from Photographers Blog:
Half a century of crucifixions for both penitent and photographer
I can't help but be amazed by the contrasting observance of the Lenten season, particularly Holy Week, in my country, the Philippines. To many, Holy Week means going back to their home towns for vacation for a relaxing time and to renew ties with families and friends. To others, like the people from Pampanga in the northern Philippines, it is the time for the annual religious ritual that could be viewed as bizarre in the eyes of some observers.
Pampanga has become a popular destination for local and foreign tourists, as well as journalists, during Maundy Thursday and Good Friday as thousands of penitents self-flagellate and dozens enact Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. Last Thursday, I followed the shirtless men as they walked the streets while whipping their backs with bamboo sticks. Blood splattered not only on my clothes but also on my camera lens as I got closer to the penitents to take a snap shot of their wounded and bloodied backs. Sometimes I even tasted the blood as droplets landed on my face.
It was 1985 when penitent Ruben Enaje first had himself nailed onto the cross. He said it was a vow he made after miraculously surviving a fall from the third floor of a building he was painting. Seeing him again last Friday for the 26th year of his crucifixion, it was obvious he has aged but the expression of pain on his face – as three-inch stainless steel nails are hammered on his hands and feet – is the same.
Buses of foreign tourists started arriving as early as 9 a.m. although the actual crucifixion wasn't until 3 p.m. Everyone had to be there early to get a good position to view the “show.” This year, dozens of penitents had themselves nailed on the cross with Ruben Enaje leading them all. He played Jesus Christ in the reenactment where all characters wore costumes, from Jesus himself, to the Virgin Mary and the Roman soldiers riding on horses. After hours of waiting, cameras started snapping and rolling when Ruben, dressed in Christ’s garment, ended the Way of the Cross at the “Golgotha,” or the hill of the crucifixion. He was pushed and shoved by the Roman soldiers as they climb the hill where the three crosses were waiting. A brief dialogue from the Bible was delivered by the characters and then the crucifixion happened, first, of the two thieves, and then Jesus.
Huge Manila human cross for Lent, against abortion
Thousands of Filipinos lined up across a football field in Manila to mark the start of Lent by forming a human cross they hoped would go down as the world’s biggest. Officials at the University of Santo Tomas, a Catholic university that at 400 years old is the nation’s oldest, said the Ash Wednesday event was also a proclamation of the school’s stand against abortion and a controversial bill on reproductive health currently being debated.
More than 20,000 people, including students, faculty members and university personnel, the students wearing black t-shirts or white school uniforms, stood side by side to form a two-colored Dominican cross while prayers were recited and songs sung.
“Forming this biggest cross will make people remember that the Lenten season is all about Christ,” said speech pathology student Erika Claire Gomez. Information about the cross will be sent to Guinness for verification.
In Catholic churches around the country, Filipinos — around 80 percent of whom are Catholic — observed Ash Wednesday by attending Mass and having a cross drawn on their foreheads with ashes. Many will fast or make other sacrifices for the 40-day Lenten period. On Tuesday, lawmakers opened debate on a reproductive health bill that seeks to improve access to information on contraception but faces strong opposition from the country’s influential Roman Catholic bishops.
Read the full story by Michaela Cabrera here.
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Istanbul celebrates carnival after nearly 70 years
Istanbul’s tiny Greek community has revived an all-but-extinct tradition by celebrating Bakla Horani, an evening of carousing at the end of carnival ahead of Lent. About 300 masked, painted and costumed revelers paraded on Monday through the streets of Istanbul’s Kurtulus district, known as Tatavla when it was home to Greeks decades ago.
The procession ended at a local hall where musicians performed rembetiko and cranked a laterna, a Greek mechanical piano. Partiers were served raki, the aniseed-flavoured spirit, and meze that featured beans. (Bakla Horani roughly translates as “eating beans,” referring to the austere Lenten diet that looms.)
For 500 years, Bakla Horani was celebrated in Istanbul, now a mainly Muslim city, and pre-Lenten street parties would run for weeks ahead of the 40-day period of self-denial Christians observe ahead of Easter. Lent began today, Ash Wednesday.
Though never on the scale of the Bacchanalian parties of Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Bakla Horani was a colourful feature of Christian life in Istanbul until its last commemoration in 1941. After that, Greeks, along with the city’s other non-Muslim residents, faced social and financial discrimination that made it all but impossible for them to stage such a splashy event.
A small group gathered to mark the holiday last year. This year, the municipality asked members of the community to organise a full-scale event, promising to provide security for the procession, said Dimitri Zotos, head of the Ayios Dimitrios foundation, which hosted Bakla Horani.
“Bringing this tradition back to life after 70 years helps keep our community alive,” said Zotos. “This is proof that we are here, that we still exist.”
Such a prominent public event by Greeks is a rare sight in Istanbul, a mostly Muslim city of some 17 million people that is home to fewer than 3,000 ethnic Greeks, most of whom are over the age of 55. About 60,000 Armenians and 20,000 Jews also live in Istanbul.
Give up your iPod for Lent, British bishops urge
Church of England bishops are encouraging British Christians to give up their iPods for Lent, instead of more traditional vices such as chocolate, to help save the planet.
The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, and the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, are among those calling for a carbon fast for Lent — a period ahead of Easter which Christians traditionally consider a time of penance and reflection — which began on Wednesday.
As well as spending a day without using technology such as mobile phones or iPods, the 46 daily suggestions also include eating by candlelight, cutting meat and vegetables thinner so they cook faster and flushing the toilet less often. “Instead of giving up chocolate for Lent, why not fast for justice … to help those suffering from the effects of climate change,” said Jones.
German Turks join the party in pre-Lenten carnival
Germany’s pre-Lenten carnival festivities got underway on Thursday with an official Turkish carnival association is joining in the fun this year for the first time.
Long sidelined from the usually raucous celebrations, an annual highpoint in Catholic areas such as the Rhineland, Bavaria and Black Forest, residents of Turkish origin in the city of Dortmund have created their own “Guild of Fools”. That means they can have their own float in Monday’s big procession, a troupe of dancers and a symbolic “prince and princess couple”.
“We set up our own association because many Turks in Germany have enjoyed carnival over the years. As an official guild, we want to enable Turks living in Germany to join in,” says the 1st Turkish Guild of Fools Dortmund 09 on their website.
These days, carnival is mainly an excuse for many Germans to parade through the streets dressed up as clowns and go on a six-day beer binge — an aspect that may be problematic for Muslims. But carnival has ancient roots. The partying grew out of the Roman tradition of celebrating the onset of spring which was later adopted by Christians to usher in Lent, the forty days preceding Easter that are a season of reflection and fasting.
In the Muslim calendar, there is no equivalent to carnival before Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting and prayer, and the Turkish Guild is giving out mixed signals on exactly where the limits are for its members.
Unfortunately the world sees only the Turks that are still living in the 13th century. That is how most of the people WANT to see them. There is a big turkish population that enjoys German beer, Bratwurst and German traditions. But they are not counted as Turks.
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Resident FaithWorld Expert
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