The Easter celebrations in the Philippines have a somewhat gruesome aspect to them. They involve young men re-enacting the crucifixion. For authenticity, this involve real nails… If you have a masochistic streak, you may like this; as, indeed, you may be inclined towards the self flagellation that passes for part of the celebrations, too.
Scottish DJ Dominik Diamond, thought it might be a spiffing idea to test his faith and have a go. Unfortunately, when tested, his faith was found wanting:
The Scottish DJ, presenter and tabloid columnist, who had travelled with a television crew in tow to the Philippines village of San Pedro Cutud to take part in the bloody annual re-enactment of Christ’s crucifixion, took fright and fled when it came to his turn to be nailed to his cross in front of a 10,000-strong crowd.
Diamond, 37, knelt and prayed before dissolving into tears, then was hastily driven away by ambulance to jeers from spectators.
Oops. I can’t help wondering whether he considered the pain aspect before embarking on his journey to the Philippines – I mean, it doesn’t take much imagination to realise that having four-inch nails hammered through ones hands and feet is going to hurt just a bit… Crucifixion was a punishment, a particularly cruel means of execution, what did he expect? Still, he clearly has a sense of humour:
Diamond said before setting off on his quest: “I’m in my mid-30s, I’ve got three kids and it’s about time I did something that didn’t involve cheap gags.”
He was being ironic, right?
Meanwhile, the pontiff has been pontificating. The usual stuff; the world is going to hell in a hand-basket:
Pope Benedict said last night that the world was in the grip of Satan and prayed for mankind to open its eyes to the “filth around us”.
At an Easter ceremony that recreated the passage of Jesus Christ to the crucifixion, Benedict XVI lashed out at man’s “decadent narcissism”.
He said “a slick campaign of propaganda is spreading an inane apologia of evil, a senseless cult of Satan”.
Yeah, right.. There are indeed things wrong in the world, but blaming it on a fictional character ain’t going to help solve them. His comments about wealth made me smile:
Accumulating wealth was “robbery” when it “prevented others from living”. He deplored “the division of our world into belts of prosperity and belts of poverty”.
Indeed, poverty is deplorable. Perhaps the pontiff would like to lead by example and disperse the wealth accumulated by the Catholic church amongst the world’s poor?
I think the pontiff discounts his own church from any conversation about greed and worldly wealth.