Members of a police bomb squad inspect the wreckage of a motorbike used to carry out Sunday's suicide bomb attack at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, March 29, 2021. Photo: Masyudi S. Firmansyah/AP Indonesia’s Catholic bishops have strongly condemned the Palm Sunday suicide bombing on the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral on the island of Sulawesi which injured at least 19 people.
The two attackers, who both died in the bombing, were believed to have been a part of the local Islamic State affiliated group, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), according to the national police chief.
Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, the archbishop of Jakarta, told CNA on March 29 that the injured victims of the cathedral bombing are hospitalised and recovering.
He said that the attack on the first day of Holy Week “shocked everybody in Indonesia, not only Catholics”, noting that “leaders of all religious communities … condemned the brutal violence”.
“After the suicide bomb, the government has assured us Catholics, and Christians in general, that Holy Week services can be carried out as planned – with a security guarantee from the government,” Cardinal Suharyo said.
“We all pray that we can celebrate this Holy Week peacefully and that all Indonesians – not only Catholics – experience the peace Jesus Christ brings us.”
The bombing occurred at the side gate of the Catholic cathedral of Makassar, the capital city of South Sulawesi province, as church-goers were exiting the cathedral at the start of Holy Week.
Two people, a man and a woman, drove up to the cathedral on a motorbike and tried to enter through a gate. They were reportedly turned away by security guards before the bomb detonated.