A mammoth crowd of devotees take part in the Mass that opens the nine-day Novena Masses in celebration of the Fiesta Señor at the Pilgrim Center of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño on Jan. 9, 2020. |CDND Photo/Gerard Vincent Francisco
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The penitential Walk with Jesus and the opening salvo Mass of the 455th Fiesta Señor celebration were generally peaceful.
Police Chief Major Keith Allen Andaya, over all ground commander for the Fiesta Señor celebration from the Cebu City Police Office, said there were no untoward incidents reported during the entire five-hour duration of the two-hour penitential walk and the Mass that followed.
Andaya said they estimated that around 300,000 individuals gathered from Fuente Osmeña for the Walk with Jesus up until the Mass at the Pilgrim Center at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu compound in downtown Cebu City.
“There were no untoward incidents even if the crowd slowly got larger as they walked along Osmeña Boulevard, and that it was raining,” Andaya told reporters in an interview after the opening salvo Mass.
“It’s a generally peaceful first day celebration of the Fiesta Señor,” he added.
The twin events marked the first day of the 455th Fiesta Señor celebration, which will culminate in a solemn High Mass on January 19 , 2019, the third Sunday of January, which is designated in the Catholic Church calendar as the Feast of the Señor Santo Niño.
The religious activities are held hand-in-hand with the secular celebration of the feast, the Sinulog Festival, that will also culminate on January 19 with a grand parade of different dancing contingents from Cebu and other parts of the country. /elb