In Pictures

In Pictures: The Philippines’ drive-by Palm Sunday blessings

As the deeply Catholic nation battles coronavirus, priests deliver blessings from trucks and motorised tricycles.

A Roman Catholic priest wearing a face mask atop a pick up truck blesses the faithfuls waving plant leaves during Palm Sunday event in Manila on April 5, 2020, as part of the Easter observance. - Chur — From the back of a pickup truck, a priest in Manila blesses the faithful who stand by the sides of the road waving palm fronds during Palm Sunday. [Ted Aljibe/AFP]

Priests delivered blessings from the back of trucks and motorised tricycles in the Philippines on Sunday, adapting the deeply Catholic nation’s traditions to the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

Locals lined up in front of their homes in a district of capital Manila, which is entering its fourth week of a lockdown that has brought the frenetic metropolis nearly to a halt.

The priests made signs of the cross as they rolled past waving residents marking Palm Sunday, the start of the week that culminates with the observance of Easter.

The quarantine that has shuttered schools and businesses and halted all social and religious events across most of the nation will likely be extended beyond mid-April, authorities said.

Easter is a major holiday in the Philippines when millions typically return to their family homes outside the capital, but heavy restrictions on movement will disrupt those trips this year.

Bans on large public events will also mean that typically thronged churches will be empty save for priests performing mass that will be live-streamed into tens of millions of homes.

Roman Catholic faithfuls holding plant leaves observe social distancing as they wait for a priest for blessing during Palm Sunday event in Manila on April 5, 2020, as part of the Easter observance. - — Church authorities asked the Catholic faithful not to go to churches for the Palm Sunday blessing. Instead they were asked to stand in front of their houses and wait for priests to go around their communities. This is part of the social distancing measures the government put in place to combat COVID-19. [Ted Aljibe/AFP]

Roman Catholic priest Pepe Quitorio riding on a tricycle and wearing a face mask blesses the faithfuls holding coconut leaves during Palm Sunday event in Borongan town, Eastern Samar province, central — Roman Catholic priest Pepe Quitorio blesses the faithful holding coconut leaves in Borongan town in the Eastern Samar province in central Philippines. [Alren Beronio/AFP]

A Roman Catholic priest riding on a tricycle and wearing a face mask blesses the faithfuls holding coconut leaves during Palm Sunday event in Borongan town, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines — Easter is a major holiday in the Philippines when millions typically return to their family homes outside the capital, but heavy restrictions on movement will disrupt those trips this year. [Alren Beronio/AFP]

Filipino Catholics wearing protective masks hold palm fronds outside their homes as they wait for the blessing of a priest roaming around neighbourhoods to celebrate Palm Sunday amid the lockdown to c — The Philippines health ministry on Sunday reported eight more coronavirus deaths and 152 new confirmed cases. [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]

A man wearing a makeshift protective head gear holds palm fronds outside his home as he waits for the blessing of a priest roaming around neighbourhoods to celebrate Palm Sunday amid the lockdown to c — "This celebration will continue despite the spread of the virus," said Bong Sosa, who attended the event wearing a mask crafted from a water cooler bottle. [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]

epa08343631 A Catholic priest wearing a protective mask travels in a vehicle to bless devotees and fronds during Palm Sunday in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, 05 April 2020. Palm Sunday marks — The coronavirus positive cases in the Philippines totalled 3,246 on Sunday, while the death toll rose to 152. [Rolex Dela Pena/EPA]