Church leaders condemn Cotabato chapel bombing

COTABATO CITY – Catholic Church leaders condemned the weekend bombing of a chapel here that left two female churchgoers injured.

“As a member of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Council of Leaders representing the Christian settler communities and as a Catholic Cardinal, I strongly condemn the grenade bombing of a Catholic chapel in Cotabato City,” retired Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, OMI, DD, said in a statement Monday.

“The crime is doubly condemnable when committed against neighbors gathered to worship God in a sacred place,” Quevedo said, referring to the bombing of the Sr. Sto. Niño chapel, located in Purok Bagong Silang, Barangay Rosary Heights 3, at around 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Quevedo called on security, military and investigative forces to ferret out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Fr. Benjamin Ariel Torreto of the Diocesan Clergy of Cotabato, who has administrative supervision over the bombed chapel, said the incident came as a shock.

“The incident saddens us, as to why it happened. We have no idea. Even the chapel leaders have no idea,” he said.

At the time of the incident, the lay ministers were conducting the liturgy without a priest, Torreto said.

About 20 people were in attendance to celebrate Pentecost, or the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ Apostles as they surround Blessed Mother Mary.

“Some managed to rush to the main door and escaped unharmed, except for the two women,” he said.

Village chair Kagui Omar Pasawilan identified the injured residents as Maribel Abis, 46, and Aniceta Tobil, a senior citizen.

Col. Querubin Manalang, city police director, said the grenade was lobbed by two men on a motorbike. (PNA)