Speaking after the Angelus on the last day of World Youth in Panama City, Pope Francis decried a deadly twin bomb attack on a Catholic Church in the Philippines, before turning his attention to other issues that are currently in the news.
By Linda Bordoni
Expressing his “firmest reproach” for a terrorist attack perpetrated on the Cathedral of Jolo in the Philippines while the Eucharist was being celebrated, Pope Francis prayed the Lord to “convert the hearts of the violent and grant the inhabitants of that region a peaceful coexistence”.
The Pope, who was speaking in Panama on the last day of World Youth Day 2019, said he entrusts the 20 victims of the attack to Christ and to the Virgin, and he noted that it brings “new mourning to this Christian community.”
The bombings took place on Jolo island, where Muslim extremists are active.
