Over one million barefoot devotees flock to feverish Christ icon parade in Philippines

MANILA (dpa): More than one million barefoot Christians on Tuesday joined an annual religious procession in the predominantly Catholic Philippines to honour a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ. More than 5,600 police officers were deployed to secure the feast of the Black Nazarene, which returned after three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Black Nazarene is a wooden statue of Jesus Christ crowned with thorns and bearing a cross. Devotees believe the statue grants prayers and wishes to the faithful. For the first time in the procession, the Black Nazarene was placed inside a glass cage, to prevent devotees from climbing up the carriage to touch the statue. The 6-kilometre procession from Luneta Park to the Minor Basilica of…