GUADALAJARA, Mexico - Some 320,000 faithful crowded in and around the Light of the World church's cathedral for a reenactment of the Last Supper on Wednesday, despite a pair of bus crashes that killed 41 pilgrims bound for the event.
Buses carrying dozens of church worshippers from two Mexican states crashed last Monday and Tuesday, killing 41 people and injuring dozens more.
Despite the gruesome crashes, Light of the World director Samuel Joaquin said more people attended Wednesday's reenactment than had turned out for the annual event in years past. Joaquin said faithful from 37 countries traveled to Guadalajara, a city of more than 2 million people 280 miles (450 kilometers) northwest of Mexico City, for the reenactment.
Only about 45,000 people found space inside the church's massive headquarters, with the rest packing streets and sidewalks outside. The daylong celebration began with followers receiving communion and was to end late Wednesday night with each worshipper "reaffirming his or her commitment to God," organizers said.
"We are here to be a step closer to God," said Saudi Guerrero, a pilgrim who traveled from Argentina for the event. "We have arrived from every corner and have become a united brotherhood."
Light of the World is a conservative Protestant movement founded in 1926, when members believe Christ spoke to the church's Mexican founder. The group is known for the strict devotion and traditional morals it encourages among the 1.5 million followers it claims in Mexico and the 5 million faithful it says it has in the rest of the world. Women are encouraged not to wear makeup or earrings, and all followers are urged to give up alcohol.
Members believe they will be spiritually weaker if they don't attend the reenactment, the only time of the year they are allowed to receive communion.
With Last Supper celebrations still in full swing late Wednesday, dozens of Light of the World deacons were preparing to travel to hospitals in Guadalajara and throughout Mexico to give communion to those patients recovering from injuries sustained during last week's crashes.
"We are very excited because even though we were almost killed and we lost people who wanted to be here today, we are still here with our brothers and our God," said Miguel Angel Lopez, who attended the reenactment despite being injured in last Tuesday's crash.