Bulacan folk score Aussie's mockery of crucifixion

MALOLOS, Philippines – Some Bulakenyos want the Australian comedian who participated in the annual crucifixion rites in Paombong town declared as persona non-grata.

The Provincial Tourism Office (PTO), on the other hand, has remained silent.

The Australian who identified himself as 36-year-old working student John Michael from Melbourne, is actually television personality John Safran, 33, a comedian who does satires of religious practices, the Sydney Morning Herald website said on a story posted Saturday.

Safran was crucified at Barangay Kapitangan in Paombong town on Good Friday with four others, including a female devotee.

Jaime Corpuz, a book writer and former director of the Center for Bulacan Studies (CBS), said Safran’s non-disclosure of his true identity is a direct mockery of the Bulakenyos and their faith.

He said, the Australian should be declared persona non-grata in the province.

“He should be banned for making a mockery of our faith,” Gilbert Angeles of Plaridel town said.

Former San Miguel mayor Edmundo Jose Buencamino, on the other hand, said the PTO committed grave lapses in accommodating Safran.

“It serves them right for being so awed at the sight of foreigners,” he said.

The Bulacan PTO assisted Safran to enable him to participate in the annual rites after the Australian got in touch with Alexis Dionisio of Paombong, who has been participating in the rites for the past 15 years.

Jenny Mae Cruz of the PTO, however, told The STAR that their communication with Safran was only through e-mail.

PTO head Dinia Quetua said some actions and measures have been done about Safran’s non-disclosure of his true identity, but did not specify.

She was also unable to answer The STAR’s queries on whether they have checked the Australian’s passport, background and purpose.

Based on the story posted on the website of the Sydney Morning Herald, the comic Safran is the partner of Father Bob Maguire of the Triple J radio show.

The website said Father Maguire made no comment when he first learned of Safran’s adventure in Bulacan.

But he later told the Herald that “Safran would have volunteered to be nailed to the cross in an effort to get a “forensic insight into religious practices.”

The priest was further quoted by the website as saying that Safran “would not have done it contemptuously.”

“For him, religion is the heart of the cosmos,” he said, referring to Safran’s belief.

The Herald also said that “photographs posted on news websites clearly identify the crucified man as John Safran.”

According to the website, Safran undertook an eight-part series in 2004 on the SBS called John Safran vs. God, “which set out to expose bigotry and hypocrisy in religion.”

The Internet article also disclosed that Safran was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Melbourne and excelled in the arts and the debating team at school.

At the age of 12, he was singled out to present an introductory speech to the Dalai Lama, who visited Australia in 1985.

John studied filmmaking at La Trobe University in Melbourne. He played a very active role in student politics founding the La Trobe Young Liberals.

Advertising became John’s first career after being employed by Clemenger Harvey in Melbourne, where he won three silver golden stylus awards.

He was nominated for ABC TV’s “Race Around the World,” where he is remembered for producing highly engaging episodes.

Half naked and wearing a long-haired wig with an improvised crown of thorns, Safran moaned as four-inch nails were driven into his palms and his cross was hoisted up.

His ordeal lasted for at least 30 seconds before he was taken down and given medical treatment.

“It’s not the kind of devotion that I would be recommending anyone to undertake,” Sydney priest Father Gary Rawson, the dean of Ashfield Canterbury Deanery, said.

“I’d have to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he has done it for all the right reasons. (But) I won’t be encouraging anyone to do that,” Rawson said, adding that he did not believe the Catholic Church sanctioned crucifixions.