Filipino devotees self-flagellate for Easter, defying ban on gatherings

Filipino Catholics perform self-flagellation outside a church on Good Friday, defying a government ban on religious gatherings amid rising coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, in Manila. - Reuters

MANILA, April 3 (Reuters): Barefoot and with their backs bloodied by repeated flogging, Catholic devotees in the Philippines defied a ban on gatherings on Good Friday to perform a ritual of self-flagellation as a means of atonement during Holy Week.

Participants were few compared to recent years, after authorities reimposed tight restrictions in response to a jump in coronavirus infections, worsened by the spread of more transmissible variants.