NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      JAKARTA (CWNews.com) - A mob of Muslims burned a Catholic church in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday in apparent retaliation for the bombing of the country's largest mosque.

      Tensions between Christians and Muslims has been high in the most populous Muslim nation in the world for several months as the worst economic crisis in decades continued its stranglehold on the nation. On Monday, a bomb exploded at the Istiqlal Mosque and President B.J. Habibie said the bombing was the work of those who want to disrupt June 7 parliamentary elections and urged Muslims not to respond.

      Police said a mob of 600 people attacked the church in Ujung Pandang on Sulawesi Island early Tuesday morning. One man was injured and 21 people arrested. Security forces in the capital Jakarta guarded several mosques and churches, and searched a Catholic cathedral near the Istiqlal Mosque following a bomb threat. No device was found.