24K form UST’s human cross to set world record, send message vs RH bill

Some 24,000 Thomasians gathered at the Dominican Order-run University of Santo Tomas in Manila Wednesday, in a bid to set a world record for making the world's largest human cross - and to send a message against the reproductive health (RH) bill. Wearing black and white T-shirts, students and teachers formed the cross at the UST Grandstand, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said.
“At the beginning we tried the biggest human rosary ... So the students requested that we also do something for Guinness. So we thought for Ash Wednesday we could do the attempt for the biggest human cross and this is the reason for that," Fr. Winston Cabading, vice-rector of UST’s Office on Religious Affairs, said in an article posted Wednesday night on the CBCP news site. University support staff also joined the human cross Wednesday night, according to a separate report on dzBB radio early Thursday. Cabading said they thought of the Cross as a perfect symbol for Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. "The symbol of the Cross is not simply the Cross but a Dominican cross so that it will symbolize better the Dominican and Catholic identity of Santo Tomas," he said. But he also said the cross is a message of sorts that they are against the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill. He said that since the cross “is the tree for life," their message is that they are against the RH bill, which the Catholic Church opposes for allowing artificial means of contraception. “This is to say to the world that we Thomasians are for life. If one considers the RH bill as something as anti-life then a message is being sent," he said. He added the students were made aware that what they are going to do is not only for a world record but also to manifest their Catholic position. No official record yet The CBCP said the huge crowd forming the human cross made it appear a world record will likely be set. “Once the Sycip Gorres and Velayo (SGV) & Co. releases the certification they’ll send it to Guinness and it will be Guinness who’ll make the decision. Hopefully that would not take long," Cabading said. The CBCP said the previous record was by 935 participants at the Oslo Opera House in Norway in May 2010. Last December, the UST also tried to set a world record by mounting the world’s largest “living rosary" but temporarily dropped the bid due to lack of time to process and get the approval of the Guinness World Records. — LBG, GMA News