Manila’s Black Nazarene Spectacle: Syncretism Masquerading as Catholic Devotion
EWTN News reports that over 9.6 million devotees participated in Manila’s 30-hour procession of the Black Nazarene statue on January 9-10, 2026, with Bishop Rufino Sescon Jr. using the event to denounce political corruption while Cardinal Jose Advincula preached about “humility.” This syncretic festival exemplifies how post-conciliar structures have replaced supernatural faith with naturalistic sentimentality and pagan ritualism.
Idolatrous Devotion Condemned by Catholic Tradition
The article describes devotees “seeking miracles and hope” through a wooden statue, with one participant claiming: “I look at the Nazarene, who carried the cross for us to save us”. This reduces latria (worship due to God alone) to dulia (veneration of saints), violating the First Commandment. The Council of Trent (Session 25) explicitly warned: “No images ought to be venerated which teach false doctrine or furnish occasion of dangerous error to the uneducated”.
Pius XI’s Quas Primas (1925) establishes Christ’s kingship over all nations, condemning such emotionalism: “The faithful… must honor Christ the King… not by mere outward display, but by the interior practices of religion and the exercise of virtue” (n. 33). The spectacle of barefoot millions clutching at ropes to “pull the carriage” transforms sacramental devotion into mechanical ritual, ignoring Christ’s warning: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).
Syncretism and Naturalism Replace Supernatural Faith
Fr. Benigno Beltran’s description of “folk Catholics” experiencing “profound personal encounter” with an image reveals the modernist heresy condemned in Pius X’s Lamentabili Sane (1907):
“Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Proposition 20).
The article admits the statue’s origins trace to 1606 Mexican syncretism, blending pre-colonial animism with Catholic imagery – precisely what Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors (1864) condemned as “indifferentism” (Proposition 16-18). The 1787 “traslacion” reenactment constitutes historical revisionism, as no such procession occurred in Christ’s Passion.
Politicized Liturgy Abandons Spiritual Mission
Bishop Sescon’s demand that politicians “step down for the people’s sake” during Mass inverts the Church’s divine mission. Pius XI’s Quas Primas reminds that Christ’s kingdom is “primarily spiritual and relates mainly to spiritual matters” (n. 18). The Code of Canon Law (1917) forbids political activism during liturgy (Canon 1258 §1), yet Sescon prioritized social commentary over administering sacraments – a hallmark of conciliar church abandonment of ex opere operato grace.
Cardinal Advincula’s message that “true devotion is knowing how to give without needing recognition” reduces Catholicism to ethical humanism. Contrast this with Pius X’s Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907): “The Church is essentially an unequal society… comprising two categories of persons, the Pastors and the flock” (n. 6). Neither prelate mentioned Confession, Holy Communion, or the Four Last Things – confirming the satanic omission of supernatural realities.
Statistical Vanity Replaces Sacramental Life
The article obsesses over worldly metrics: “30-hour procession,” “9.6 million devotees,” and police deployment statistics. This mirrors the conciliar church’s fixation on numerical growth over doctrinal integrity. St. Pius X warned in Pascendi: “The Modernists… employ a double meaning in their words which is their chief instrument for deceiving” (n. 41). The “record-breaking” attendance proves nothing except mass apostasy, as true devotion requires frequent reception of the sacraments, not theatrical processions.
The four deaths during the event – including a photojournalist – tragically illustrate how post-conciliar structures endanger souls. The 1917 Code (Canon 1252) forbids processions causing public danger, yet “Father” Ramon Jade Licuanan celebrated this as “devotion born of suffering“. Authentic Catholic suffering means embracing crosses through valid sacraments, not physical exhaustion from paganized rituals.
Clerical Apostasy in the Conciliar Sect
All mentioned clergy operate within the counterfeit church:
- “Cardinal” Advincula participated in Leo XIV’s “extraordinary consistory” – a parody of true papal authority.
- “Bishop” Sescon holds office under antipapal structures condemned by Pius XII’s Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis (1945).
- “Fr.” Beltran’s “Divine Word Missionary” title mocks St. Arnold Janssen’s orthodox order.
Their tolerance of idolatrous practices fulfills Pius X’s warning in Pascendi: “Modernists substitute for faith a religious sentiment which has its origin in a need of the divine” (n. 14). Nowhere do these “clergy” warn devotees that sacraments outside true Catholic communion (e.g., Novus Ordo “Masses”) lack validity – damning millions through silence.
Conclusion: Return to Christ the King
This festival epitomizes how the conciliar sect replaces lex orandi with pagan spectacle. As Pius XI declared: “When God and Jesus Christ were removed from laws and states… the entire human society had to be shaken” (Quas Primas, n. 24). Until Filipinos reject this false devotion and return to the integral Catholic faith – with valid priests offering the True Sacrifice – such processions will remain occasions of sin, not grace. Let us pray they rediscover the Regnum Christi through consecration to the Sacred Heart, not superstitious rituals.
Source:
Manila’s feast of the Black Nazarene draws 9.6 million devotees (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 14.01.2026