Muslims join Pope to condemn Philippine church bombing

(December 27, 2010) Muslims leaders in the Philippines joined Pope Benedict XVI in condemning the Christmas Day bombing in a chapel in the southern Philippine island of Jolo in which 12 were injured. The Pope mentioned the bombing in Sunday’s Angelus where he also criticized attacks in Nigeria and Pakistan. Local Muslim leader Ustadz Javier Mohammad, director of Sulu Islamic Library, said in a television interview “Islam condemns these kinds of activities as it does not tolerate any acts that are injurious to others.” Sheikh Muhammad Muntasir of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s committee on Da’wah called the act “barbaric and satanic and devoid of any religious ethics.” “Father Ricky Baculcol, the main celebrant in the Mass, was one of those injured in the blast,” said Bishop Angelito Lampon of Jolo. The military attributed the attacks to the Abu Sayyaf group and its international affiliate Jemaah Islamiya, although the bishop said “we don’t have a suspect.” Bishop Lampon said that attacks on Christians in Sulu province “is normal,” as 97% of the population is Muslim. “Many of them are kind and friendly but it’s the fundamentalists who don’t understand our work here,” the bishop said.