At Nazarene feast, Filipinos pray for corruption-plagued Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Millions of Filipinos joined the annual Feast of Jesus Nazareno, one of Asia’s biggest religious festivals, as they brought prayers not only for their families but also for a country besieged by a corruption crisis.

Speaking to Crux, Nazareno devotees hoped for the conversion of corrupt officials so that the poorest Filipinos can have a better life.

The Philippines, a country of nearly 86 million Roman Catholics, is facing its biggest corruption scandal in recent history, involving the plunder of billions of pesos in flood control projects. The flood control mess erupted amid a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his former ally, Vice President Sara Duterte.

“I hope they grow a heart so that they will be bothered by their conscience,” said Juliet Fermin, 56, referring to corrupt Filipino officials. “I hope they will stop stealing from public coffers. I pity Filipinos who only get poorer and poorer!”

Fermin cited the situation of students who have to wade in floodwaters, while politicians and contractors steal billions of pesos meant for flood control projects.

“They should have faith in our dear Jesus Nazareno so that we would foster love and care for our fellow Filipinos,” she said on the eve of the festival.

Clemente Vivar, 49, prayed that “everyone would reconcile,” an allusion to warring political camps.

For both 52-year-old Myrna Salo and 47-year-old Michelle Uson, their most ardent desire is peace in the country, especially in this time of political crisis. Uson added, “I hope for justice in this flood control controversy.”

The devotees spoke to Crux as they lined up outside the Quirino Grandstand, one of the country’s biggest open-air stadiums, on the eve of the Nazareno feast.

Standing in line for 12 hours or more, they weathered hunger and thirst to honor Jesus Nazareno ahead of a day-long procession. In particular, they sought to touch or wipe their towels on a replica of Jesus Nazareno, an image of a dark-skinned suffering Christ that was brought by Spanish missionaries in the 17th century.

This long wait culminated in an iconic procession that can last up to 22 hours, during which Jesus Nazareno’s carriage is brought for veneration along Manila’s streets every January 9.

During the procession, devotees wearing maroon — the color of the Nazareno’s vestments — would jostle to touch the carriage’s ropes or even climb onto the carriage itself. This remains one of the world’s most astounding displays of popular piety, nurtured through the centuries by the local church in this former Spanish colony.

Building on this devotion, the local church this year hopes it can also enrich the “social conscience” of devotees, inspiring them to see beyond their families’ needs.

Officials of Quiapo Church, which houses the Nazareno image, said this means that devotees “should be aware of social realities.”

“We should be praying not only for our families. We should also be praying for our country,” said Father Robert Arellano, LRMS, parochial vicar of Quiapo Church, in an interview with Crux.

Arellano emphasized that the Catholic Church opposes corruption because it results in the theft of money meant for the poor. He added that this fight against corruption “should begin with the self.”

This call for a deeper social conscience resonated further in the Midnight Mass for the Nazareno feast, where the presider directly called out corrupt politicians who victimize the poor.

Bishop Rufino Sescon Jr., bishop of the Diocese of Balanga, 126 kilometers north of Manila, told Nazareno devotees to emulate the suffering Christ who freely humbled himself for the sake of love.

Sescon, a former rector of Quiapo Church, presided over the Mass on behalf of Cardinal Jose Advincula, the archbishop of Manila, who was in Rome for the consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV.

The Balanga prelate — a former aide to Cardinal Jaime Sin, who helped topple dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986 — criticized corrupt politicians during the fiesta Mass.

“In our country today, there are those who refuse to step down even when they are already in the wrong and exposed; who refuse to step down even when they are a burden to the nation; who refuse to step down even as the poor are already suffering; who refuse to step down even as the country is flooded and falling apart; who refuse to step down even though they are unworthy,” Sescon said.

“Shame on you,” the bishop told the corrupt. “Humble yourself for the sake of mercy and love.”