The procession, locally known as Translacion, sees devotees carry across Manila a 400-year-old, life-size statue of Jesus Christ carrying a black wooden cross. Millions of Filipino Catholics join the march every year to see and touch Jesus Nazareno, believed to be a source of countless healings and miracles throughout the years.

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.

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.

"The only one who is reliable and the only one who gives us hope without fail is our beloved Lord Jesus the Nazarene," said Cardinal Advincula.

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.

A massive crowd of over 7.4 million mostly barefoot devotees on Thursday joined the largest religious procession in the predominantly Catholic Philippines in honour of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ.

Thousands of devotees filled the streets for an annual Catholic procession in the Philippines. Religious locals gathered around the Quiapo Church in the capital city Manila, where the image of the Black Nazarene depicting Jesus Christ carrying a cross was set to arrive during the religious festival on January 9.