Cotabato Archbishop Emeritus Orlando Cardinal Quevedo on Tuesday, May 21, condemned the weekend grenade attack at a village chapel in the southern city of Cotabato.
In a statement, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said that the blast occurred during a Bible service at Sto. Niño Chapel in Barangay Rosary Heights 3.
Initial reports revealed that two men riding a motorcycle were behind the assault.
Quevedo described the incident as “dastardly” and a “horrendous sacrilegious act that cries out to heaven.”
“The Grand Mufti of the premier Islamic University in Egypt has condemned religious terrorists as false Muslims,” he said.
“The crime is doubly condemnable when committed against neighbors gathered to worship God in a sacred place,” he added.
Quevedo, who is also a member of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s Council of Leaders, urged authorities to apprehend those responsible.
“I call upon our security, military, and investigative forces to ferret out the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” the cardinal said.
The Philippine government also condemned the attack, describing it as a "direct assault on the Filipino people's dedication to religious freedom and peaceful coexistence, as well as a blatant disregard for human life."