Over 9.6M devotees join Manila’s Black Nazarene feast, the longest in history, as Bishop Sescon denounces corruption in fiery homily.
Newsroom (14/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) Under the sweltering January sun and a sea of maroon-clad believers, more than 9.6 million Catholics thronged the streets of Manila on January 9 for the annual feast of the Black Nazarene — one of Asia’s largest religious gatherings. Brimming with faith, exhaustion, and resolve, devotees sought blessings, healing, and miracles as they joined the longest Traslacion in the celebration’s four-century history.
Bishop Rufino Sescon Jr. of the Diocese of Balanga set the tone of this year’s observance with a searing homily that transcended faith and entered the political arena. Addressing corruption in infrastructure projects and flood-control works, he issued an unequivocal rebuke: “Shame on you,” he said, calling on officials mired in scandals to resign for the nation’s sake.
“In our country today, some people refuse to step down despite having done bad things or made the poor suffer… Shame on you. Please step down for the people’s sake,” he preached before tens of thousands at Quirino Grandstand.
A Record-Breaking Traslacion
The 2026 procession, symbolizing the journey of Christ bearing His cross, lasted an astonishing 30 hours, 50 minutes, and 1 second — nearly ten hours longer than last year’s 20-hour event. Police Major Hazel Asilo confirmed it as the longest in the celebration’s storied history.
More than 18,000 police officers were deployed across Manila to maintain order and safety. Authorities reported four deaths during the event, though Church officials clarified that a photojournalist’s passing on January 9 was due to a prior health condition and unrelated to the grueling religious activity.
Despite the physical challenges, devotees described the experience as deeply transformative. “I look at the Nazarene, who carried the cross for us to save us. That’s how we should be — to be tough amid all situations and not to give up,” said Maria Christine Rey, a mother of four. John Quilaquil, a college student battling illness, called the experience “very special,” describing the act of pulling the carriage ropes and climbing near the cross as “new experiences to cherish for life.”
A Call to Humility and Renewal
Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jose Advincula, who presided over the fifth novena Mass days earlier, urged believers to center their devotion not on spectacle but on humility and selfless love. “True devotion is knowing how to give without recognition, to serve without praise, and to love without expecting anything in return,” he reminded those gathered before departing for Rome to attend an extraordinary consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV.
Behind the fervent religious display lies centuries of faith rooted in Philippine history. The wooden image of Jesus Nazareno — dark-skinned and heavy with the weight of the cross — arrived from Mexico in 1606. Carved from mesquite wood, it has since been enshrined in Quiapo Church, now formally known as the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno.
Living Legacy of Devotion
The Traslacion tradition dates back to 1787 when the revered image was transferred from Bagumbayan, now Rizal Park, to Quiapo. The annual reenactment of that solemn journey has evolved into a national symbol of endurance, unity, and belief. This year’s theme, “He Must Go Up, and I Also Go Down” (cf. John 3:30), reflected a call for humility amid devotion.
Over two days and nights, barefoot devotees — many in maroon shirts mirroring the statue’s robe — waded through the dense throng, straining to touch the ropes or cloths that brushed the glass-encased image. For many, it was both a test of physical endurance and faith. The image finally returned to Quiapo Church on the morning of January 10, marking the conclusion of the longest procession on record.
From December 31 through January 10, officials counted more than 9.64 million participants in the novena and feastday events — a testament to enduring Catholic devotion among Filipinos.
Faith Amid Suffering
“The devotion is born of suffering, faith, and hope,” said Father Ramon Jade Licuanan, rector of Quiapo Church. Many believe the Black Nazarene offers not only supernatural help but solidarity — a Christ who shares in human pain.
Father Daniel Franklin Pilario, president of Adamson University, described it as more than mere religion: “Many can relate to the image of the Nazarene — a God united in our suffering so that we can be saved from hardship, pain, and fire. Some see it as fanaticism. I call it everyday resistance.”
As dawn broke over Manila after 30 relentless hours, the faithful stood in reverent silence as the image reentered Quiapo Church. In the chaos and heat, the nation witnessed both exhaustion and renewal — a devotion tested by time, deeply Filipino, and forever bound to its people’s struggle for redemption.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from CNA
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