Hundreds of thousands of barefoot devotees joined an annual procession in the Philippines of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ on Thursday in one of the world’s grandest displays of Catholic devotion and expressions of faith.

Taking place each year in January, the procession sees devotees carry across Manila a replica of a famous life-size statue of Jesus carrying a black wooden cross.

January 9 marks the closing procession of the Black Nazarene festivities. For three days, Filipino Catholics venerate a statue of Christ brought from Mexico in the 16th century, regarded as miraculous.

More than half a million Catholic devotees participated on Thursday in the centuries-old Black Nazarene procession in Manila, seeking blessings and miracles while navigating massive crowds that left nearly 470 injured.

A devotee shows a miniature statue of the Black Nazarene during the annual feast of the Black Nazarene in Manila, the Philippines, Jan. 9, 2025. Thousands of devotees of the Black Nazarene flocked to downtown Quiapo district in Manila on Thursday to join the yearly procession to honor a life-size statue known as Black Nazarene.

Hundreds of thousands of Catholic pilgrims swarmed the streets of Manila in search of a miracle, straining to reach a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ in an annual display of religious fervour.