Photos: Devotees flock to Philippine church to attend Nazarene feast

Manila: Thousands of devotees thronged a church in the Philippine capital Saturday for a glimpse of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ believed to have miraculous healing powers, after an annual parade was cancelled due to COVID19.

Ignoring official pleas to stay home because of the virus threat, Catholics wearing masks and face shields gathered along an avenue outside the Quiapo Church in Manila where the first of 15 masses for the feast of the Black Nazarene began before dawn.

People patiently waited to enter the church or watched the back-to-back masses broadcast live on large screens outside.

The orderly scenes were in contrast to the normal frenzied procession involving hundreds of thousands of pilgrims risking life and limb to touch the icon in the belief it can heal the sick.

The life-sized statue - brought to the Philippines in the early 1600s when the country was a Spanish colony - is traditionally pulled through the packed streets of the capital on a float in one of the world's biggest displays of Catholic devotion.

But fearing it could turn into a virus super-spreader event this year, authorities cancelled the parade for the first time in decades and instead urged people to watch the masses livestreamed on Facebook.

Worshippers attending the church were forced to look but not touch the icon, which was placed out of reach on the balcony above the entrance. For many, that was enough.

Several thousand police were deployed to ensure social distancing in the devout crowd, which Manila's disaster agency estimated had topped 30,000 in the first few hours of the celebration.

About 80 percent of Filipinos consider themselves to be Catholic.

The statue is called the Black Nazarene because of its charred colour, believed to have occurred when it survived a fire aboard a ship en route from Mexico.

In the weeks leading up to Saturday, it was taken to several churches around the city to give devotees the opportunity to see it in the hope of avoiding a huge crowd on feast day.

Catholic devotees observe physical distancing while attending mass on the feast day of the Black Nazarene, outside Quiapo Church.

A Catholic devotee wearing face mask and face shield carries a small statue of the Black Nazarene while attending mass on the feast day of the Black Nazarene, outside Quiapo Church.

A Catholic priest is seen on an electronic screen as he officiates a mass in Quiapo church.

Devotees of the Black Nazarene wait for their turn to enter the plaza outside the Quiapo church.

A church layman sprinkles holy water on devotees of the Black Nazarene outside the Quiapo church.