"Every year on Good Friday, a small group of Catholic men express their devotion to Christ by literally following in his footsteps. They call it penitence and they are crucified. Scores of others cover their faces, don crowns of thorns, and flagellate themselves. Priests frown on the tradition, but do not stop it. The penitents say they would do it anyway.

Meanwhile, the crucifixions have become a spectacle. Thousands of tourists descend on the town of San Fernando, Pampanga every year, cameras snapping, flashes popping, to get a glimpse as the nails are hammered into the men's palms and their crosses are raised on a hill they also call Calvary. Their tourist dollars are an annual boost to the impoverished local economy, and the politicians welcome the sightseers." journeymanpictures

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