MABALACAT CITY, Philippines - Catholics in the northern Philippine province of Pampanga, many bare-chested and hooded, practice self-flagellation in the sweltering heat in the week before Easter to ...

Responding to acts of extreme corporal mortification during Holy Week, Catholic bishops in the Philippines have discouraged practices such as self-flagellation and crucifixion in favor of more ...

Hundreds of Roman Catholics across the Philippines have taken part in crucifixion and self-flagellation processions as Good Friday got under way. Men and women marched barefoot along roads, bearing ...

The country's Catholic bishops on Wednesday warned penitents not to subject themselves to crucifixion or self-flagellation during the observance of Good Friday. Archbishop Socrates Villegas of ...

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – A two-year old boy was seen on a video holding a small souvenir bamboo whip, mimicking self-flagellation with a group of mandarame (flagellants) on Maundy Thursday, March ...

An actor playing the role of Jesus Christ is whipped by men dressed as centurions during a Passion Play on a street in Mandaluyong City, PhilippinesPicture: Rouelle Umali/Xinhua/Alamy Credit: Rouelle ...

Pictures show devotees being flogged and others whipping their own backs red raw. The participants defied a ban on gatherings for the Holy Week display. There were less people taking part compared to ...

The late Pope John Paul II would whip himself, according to a nun who helped to look after him. So how common is this practice in the Catholic faith? "We would hear the sound of the blows," says ...

More than a hundred men in the Philippines may have contracted rabies after taking part in a self-flagellation ritual to mark Good Friday, doctors and local authorities said on Thursday. A health ...