Good Friday: Philippines’ Longest-Serving ‘Jesus’ Reenactor Retires After Being Crucified 37 Times

Ruben Enaje, a Filipino carpenter and billboard maker, announced on Friday that he would retire from playing Jesus in a famous ceremony in Pampanga, the Philippines, after being crucified for the 37th time.

San Pedro Cutud, a neighborhood of Pampanga, has become internationally known for staging live crucifixions annually to mark Good Friday, the Christian holiday that solemnly observes the day Jesus Christ was crucified. Good Friday occurs three days before Easter, the holiest holiday on the Christian calendar, which marks Jesus’s return to life and triumph over death.

According to the Filipino news outlet ABS-CBN, 15 people were crucified across five different locations in the region. An estimated 15,000 people attended the events, including 8,000 in the San Pedro Cutud neighborhood, which is believed to host the oldest such ceremony beginning around 1961.

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While the Catholic Church has repeatedly discouraged self-harm on Good Friday — explaining