Cotabato Bombing: Archbishop Quevedo Clarifies

One chilling news from Southern Mindanao is haunting us again: 5 killed and many wounded at a bomb blast in Cotabato City during the weekend. The blast and the Cathedral were correlated in the news; it closed the homily of Archbishop Quevedo, former president of the CBCP. Such a correlation triggered some knee-jerk reaction from me, and most likely to many a viewers. Afterall, Catholic and non-Catholic missionaries have been in those thorny and perilous situations, their  presence sustained only by their vision of the possibility of some genuine inter-religious dialogue and no doubt – by their faith. Colonial leftovers extended indefinitely.

But this time, Bishop Quevedo is trying to correct me and the media, by asking to deal with facts instead of an instant replay of those colonial mental cacophony. Here’s what he says courtesy of Mindanews:

“The bomb was planted in a lechon house and not in the cathedral or in cathedral grounds, where many cars were parked. To say that the attack was intended against the Cathedral and against churchgoers would be stretching the facts to the limit,” says Quevedo.

And end with this:

“ Indeed, innocent civilians are the victims of such bombings. Even if it can be argued that a church or its worshippers may not be the direct target, to place a bomb near a church where people are worshipping God would be doubly heinous and must be condemned by all people of good will,” he added.

Indeed, cathedral or a lechon house – I still imagine and pray for peace for this Land of Nailed Promises.