As a member of the BARMM Council of Leaders representing the Christian Settler Communities and as a Catholic Cardinal, I condemn in the strongest terms possible the grenade bombing of a Catholic chapel in Cotabato City, yesterday, May 19, Pentecost Sunday.

The holy Qur'an declares to the whole world that we share the Common Word, "Love of neighbor." The crime is doubly condemnable when committed against neighbors gathered to worship God in a sacred place. The Grand Mufti of the premier Islamic University in Egypt has condemned religious terrorists as false Muslims.

The dastardly bombing of a Catholic chapel is a horrendous sacrilegious act that cries out to heaven. I call upon our security, military, and investigative forces to ferret out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.