ZAMBOANGA CITY – Statues of Catholic saints that have been in the small chapel of San Isidro Labrador had been beheaded in the largely Muslim province of Basilan.
The attack on the church in Lamitan City coincided with the Roman Catholic observance of Ash Wednesday and police are investigating the incident.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the desecration of the chapel, but suspicions fell heavily on the Abu Sayyaf and other pro-ISIS groups violently fighting for the establishment of a caliphate. The statues were desecrated sometime Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and police are trying to figure out who is behind the act.
Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Lenten period leading up to Easter, when Christians believe Jesus was resurrected. The ashes symbolize both death and repentance. During this period, Christians show repentance and mourning for their sins, because they believe Christ died for them.
It was not the first time this had happened.
In June 2017, an ISIS propaganda video surfaced on social media that showed its fighters desecrating the Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Marawi City in the Muslim province of Lanao del Sur.
The clip, believed to have been taken during the first week of the ISIS siege of Marawi, showed militants stomping and smashing statues of the Virgin Mary and other saints, including a huge statue of Jesus Christ nailed on the wooden cross. They also tore and burned pages of the holy Bible and photographs of Pope Francis at the Cathedral’s altar.
Militants destroyed and burned the Credence Table, Tabernacle, the Ambo and Presider’s Chair while chanting “Allahu Akbar” or “God is Great” before retreating away from the church. They also abducted its priest Father Chito Suganob along with other church workers who were eventually freed after four months in captivity. The video lasted about 1 minute and 45 seconds and also appeared on the ISIS website.
The Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Sulu province, also in the restive Muslim autonomous region, and a chapel were also bombed several times over the last decade by the Abu Sayyaf. But the deadliest attacks in January 2019 when an Indonesian couple blew themselves up and killed at least 20 people and wounded over 100, mostly innocent civilians and soldiers guarding the church. (Mindanao Examiner)
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