The crowd seems to get bigger and bolder each year. But as Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle explained: “To understand it, you need to be a devotee. Outsiders do not understand.”
No barrier, no threat to life and limb, not even a terror alert raised by Malacañang could stem the crushing tide of devotees who jammed the streets in adoration of the iconic Black Nazarene of Quiapo, whose traditional procession on Monday was one of the biggest, longest and most guarded in memory.
The procession was already on its 13th hour as of 9 p.m. Monday night, with authorities expecting it to be over well past midnight.
Before Tagle could even give his final blessing during a Mass held at Quirino Grandstand in Manila, barefoot men and women made a mad dash to the stage and toppled security railings to be among the first to touch the image.
Scores were already hurt in this initial commotion before marshals were able to move the image to a carriage for the procession.
Police estimated up to 8 million people crammed into the historic quarters of Manila seeking to touch the centuries-old and life-size icon of Jesus Christ that is believed to hold miraculous powers.
The human sea of Catholic pilgrims once again flooded the capital in a show of religious frenzy, despite warnings that Islamic militants may be planning to bomb the spectacular annual event.
Many among the heaving, roaring crowd risked injury by clambering over others in a bid to touch the icon and win its healing favor, while most people traipsed through the dirty streets barefoot as a sign of devotion.
Millions of devotees are attracted to the event every year, more so this year even after President Benigno Aquino III warned on Sunday that authorities had uncovered a plot to attack the event, potentially with a mobile phone-triggered bomb.
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