CEBU CITY, Jan. 9 -- In solidarity with the devotees in Manila, hundreds of Cebuanos on Monday observed the feast of the Black Nazarene in a pontifical mass celebrated by Archbishop Jose Palma at a shrine in Talisay City.

Fr. Narciso Amoro of the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) said although the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila canceled the Traslacion this year due to Covid-19, the devotees here held a procession of the life-sized image of dark-skinned Jesus carrying the cross around the Cebu South Coastal Road.

Amoro, who oversees the Shrine of the Black Nazarene, also celebrated a vespers mass on Sunday.

Palma said the fiesta of the Black Nazarene in Manila as well as in Cebu coincides with the big festivity in t...