HONG KONG (SE): On April 1, Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene—better know as Quiapo Church in Manila, the Philippines, began allowing devotees to touch and kiss [pahalik] the image of the Black Nazarene for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began two years ago, CBCPNews reported on April 1.
“Devotees may once again touch the image of the Black Nazarene located above the main altar of the Quiapo Church,” Father Douglas Badong, the church’s parochial vicar, said on Radio Veritas.
On January 9, the annual feast and procession of the Black Nazarene was heavily curtailed for the second year in a row in the face of surging Covid-19 infections [Sunday Examiner, January 16]. In January 2021 the procession was cancelled while Mass attendance was restricted [Sunday Examiner, 9 January 2021].
Famously, crowds, millions-strong participate in the procession activities.
In early March 2020 the Quiapo Church stopped the pahalik to mitigate the spread of the Covid-19.
Father Badong said on April 1, that the church would “slowly bring back the tradition of pahalik.” However, he appealed for “devotees to queue properly and observe the safety protocols.”
