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'Joy of the church returned': Philippines celebrates Ash Wednesday as COVID rules lifted

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Filipino Catholics receive ash on their foreheads as they mark Ash Wednesday at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church in Manila. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/03/02/20220302-quiapo-ash-wednesday-gc-vu2a9713.jpg"/><figcaption>Filipino Catholics receive ash on their foreheads as they mark Ash Wednesday at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church in Manila.<em> George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Thousands of Filipinos flocked to churches to observe Ash Wednesday, with Catholic priests and nuns daubing their foreheads with a cross for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. </p><p>Most Covid-19 restrictions were scrapped this week after a sharp drop in infections and increased vaccinations, allowing churches to pack their pews and physical contact to resume.</p><p>Devotees wearing masks began lining up outside Baclaran Church in Manila before dawn to receive the ash cross on their foreheads -- a ritual that signals the beginning of Lent.</p><p>Churches have in the past two years sprinkled it in people&#x27;s hair due to anti-Covid measures.</p><p>&quot;I feel like I am in heaven,&quot; Lydia Smith, 76, told AFP outside the church where several thousand of the faithful stood in long queues waiting their turn. </p><p>&quot;I am really happy even if it&#x27;s very crowded. It&#x27;s like the joy of the church has returned.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/multimedia/photo/03/02/22/visiting-the-sick-elderly-on-ash-wednesday">Home visit to elderly and sick on Ash Wednesday</a></li></ul><p>The Philippines is overwhelmingly Catholic, with some 80 percent of its people said to be believers.</p><p>Since early 2020 most devotees have been forced to follow church services online and major religious festivals have been curtailed or cancelled due to strict social-distancing rules.</p><p>But Tuesday marked the beginning of the &quot;new normal&quot; in the national capital region and 38 other areas. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1949135" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Most restrictions have been removed, allowing places of worship, restaurants and public transport to operate at full capacity.</p><p>Local church officials gave the green light for the &quot;imposition of ashes on the forehead&quot; to resume on Wednesday, but sprinkling the powdery residue in hair was still allowed. </p><p>&quot;One of the tragedies of Covid-19 is it separated us,&quot; said Father Victorino Cueto, the rector of Baclaran Church.</p><p>&quot;When we put the ash on the forehead, it means that we are really reaching out to one another, in faith and in love.&quot;</p><p>Hotel safety officer Radito Mendoza, 62, welcomed the resumption of the tradition.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m so happy that we are slowly going back to normal and those who want to go to church are now able to do so,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>mff/amj/dhc</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

Thousands of Filipinos flocked to churches to observe Ash Wednesday, with Catholic priests and nuns daubing their foreheads with a cross for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. 