(Vatican Radio) The Islamic State group has said its supporters carried out a gun and grenade attack in Jakarta that left at least seven people dead, including four attackers. The incident on Thursday is the latest indication that the group is growing in strength in Southeast Asia.Listen to Alastair Wanklyn's report There were explosions and then a gun battle broke out in a shopping district in Jakarta that is popular with United Nations staff and other foreign workers.A police spokesman said the gunmen tried to imitate the recent attacks in Paris. Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged people...not to be afraid.Indonesia was on edge over Christmas and New Year's, when security forces braced for an attack, although none took place.Hundreds of Indonesians and Malaysians are thought to have joined the Islamic State in Syria, where the group says it has set up a special unit for them.Meanwhile, in the southern Philippines, too, there are signs of growing allegiance to the Isl...
(Vatican Radio) The Islamic State group has said its supporters carried out a gun and grenade attack in Jakarta that left at least seven people dead, including four attackers. The incident on Thursday is the latest indication that the group is growing in strength in Southeast Asia.
Listen to Alastair Wanklyn's report
There were explosions and then a gun battle broke out in a shopping district in Jakarta that is popular with United Nations staff and other foreign workers.
A police spokesman said the gunmen tried to imitate the recent attacks in Paris. Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged people...not to be afraid.
Indonesia was on edge over Christmas and New Year's, when security forces braced for an attack, although none took place.
Hundreds of Indonesians and Malaysians are thought to have joined the Islamic State in Syria, where the group says it has set up a special unit for them.
Meanwhile, in the southern Philippines, too, there are signs of growing allegiance to the Islamic State.
Fr. Sebastiano D'Ambra, an Italian missionary who runs an interfaith dialogue in the city of Zamboanga, said the local peace process is faltering, and that is causing some separatists to buy into Islamic State ideology.
"We are in a growing of this situation, and God knows what will happen next."
Fr. D'Ambra, a member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, says a prominent Muslim cleric in the southern Philippines has urged local leaders to crack down on extremism, but he says even they may now be unable to control it.
"There is no courage, because they are afraid."
Some analysts say as long as the Islamic State group controls territory in the Middle East it will continue to have appeal in impoverished parts of Southeast Asia.
Families, donors, and others gather with Bishop Erik Pohlmeier for the dedication of the "Precious Ones Baby Mausoleum" at the San Lorenzo Cemetery in St. Augustine, Florida, on April 23, 2024. / Credit: Fran Ruchalski/courtesy of the Archdiocese of St. AugustineCNA Staff, Apr 26, 2024 / 09:51 am (CNA).Families gathered with St. Augustine Bishop Erik Pohlmeier on a sunny Tuesday this week for the dedication of the "Precious Ones Baby Mausoleum" at the city's San Lorenzo Cemetery.Six years in the making, the 44,000-pound granite mausoleum is designed for babies lost at a young age through miscarriage, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or stillborn births. A brick walkway marked by a charcoal cross leads up to the brilliant white mausoleum, which is full of burial spaces that are ready to honor little ones. Miscarriages are common events, and women often suffer through them quietly, one 2018 study found. About 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, usually be...
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