ISIS-affiliated militants destroy church in Philippines

Jun 07, 2017

MARAWI: The Bishop of Marawi has condemned the “demonic” destruction of a church and religious statues by Islamist terrorists.

Bishop Edwin de la Peña said the destruction of religious iconography revealed the true intent of the attacks in the southern Philippine city.

“We are angered by what happened. Our faith has really been trampled on,” he told CBCP News.

A video shows the terrorists yelling “Allahu akbar” as they invaded the church, smashing statues and tearing pictures of Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, before setting it on fire.

“That is blasphemy! That’s unacceptable. It’s obvious that their actions are really out of this world. It’s demonic,” Bishop de la Pena said.

The terrorists also abducted a priest, Fr Chito Suganob, a day after launching their initial attack on the city.

A video posted online last week showed Fr Suganob appealing to the Philippine government to stop its military operation to retake the city.--Catholic Herald