Pope Francis led religious leaders yesterday in assailing the violence that claimed 20 lives, branding it the “most heinous desecration” of a place of worship.

Speaking during his visit to Panama for a World Youth Day rally, the Pope expressed sorrow for victims of “the latest episode of violence that once again strikes this Christian community.”

“I raise my prayers for the dead and wounded. May the Lord, Prince of peace, convert the hearts of the violent and give the inhabitants of that region peaceful coexistence,” Pope Francis said.

The bombing was the most heinous desecration of a sacred place, on a sacred day and at a sacred moment of worship.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) during its plenary assembly yesterday said the act of terrorism took place only a few days after the plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

“As we begin a new phase in the peace process with the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, we ask our Christian brethren to join hands with all peace-loving Muslim and Indigenous People communities in the advocacy against violent extremism,” it said.

“May all religions of peace guide us in our quest for a brighter future for the peoples of Mindanao,” it added.

The head of the world’s largest body of Muslim-majority countries also strongly condemned the bombing.

The general secretary of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Yousef Al-Othaimeen, has also expressed his “deep indignation” at Sunday’s terrorist attack.

He says the OIC firmly rejects all forms of violence, extremism and terrorism, whatever their sources or motives.

Separately, the OIC also welcomed the results of a recent referendum in the southern Philippines, which provides expanded autonomy for the region’s minority Muslims in the hopes of ending nearly five decades of a separatist rebellion that has left 150,000 people dead.

Retired Cotabato Archbishop Cardinal Orlando Quevedo and former Jolo Bishop Angelito Lampon described the incident as “a satanic act.” They said the bombing was “the most heinous desecration of a sacred place on a sacred day and at a sacred moment of worship.”

Retired Cotabato Archbishop Cardinal Orlando Quevedo. AFP Photo “It is truly a satanic act that all sacred religions must condemn,” Quevedo and Lampon said in a joint statement.

Quevedo once served as parish priest of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral, which was targeted in the attack while Lampon was the bishop of the Jolo vicariate up to 16 December last year. Pope Francis assigned him to head the Archdiocese of Cotabato.

“We strongly appeal to our security and military forces to flush out the perpetrators of this barbaric crime and bring them to justice,” they said.

CBCP President Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles said, “I beg and urge all of you to offer a special and sincere prayer for the people and for the situation in Jolo.”

Fr. Romeo Saniel, Apostolic Administrator of Jolo, said that most of those who died were his personal friends.

“They bravely stayed in Jolo in spite of the threats and insecurities. I believe they have died for their Christian faith,” said Saniel.

“No words can describe the sorrow and pain that we feel these days. May they be given justice in God’s time,” he said.

Saniel was attending the bishops’ plenary assembly in Manila when the “tragic” incident happened. He promptly returned to Jolo yesterday.

The assembly, which started on Saturday, was set to end today.

“I know that the friends of the victims, both Muslims and Christians, are mourning and in deep sorrow today,” he added.

Saniel also called for prayers for the families of the soldiers who died while securing the cathedral.

In light of the “heinous desecration” of the cathedral, the members of the World Apostolate of Fatima of the Philippines (WAFP) were urged to pray a novena of rosaries from 28 January to 5 February.

Bishop Guillermo Afable of Digos, WAFP national spiritual director, said the prayer is in reparation “for the sin against God and His people.”