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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/philippines-chapel-attack-wounds-11.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Fr Romeo Villanueva surveys the damage to a Catholic chapel following an attack on the volatile island of Jolo (AP)" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/min-philippines-chapel-attack-wounds-11.jpg" alt="Fr Romeo Villanueva surveys the damage to a Catholic chapel following an attack on the volatile island of Jolo (AP)"/></a></p>
<p>A bomb has exploded during Christmas Day Mass at a chapel inside a police camp in the volatile southern Philippines, wounding a priest and 10 churchgoers, officials said.</p>
<p>The improvised explosive was hidden in a ventilation window close to the ceiling of the chapel, which is located inside a police camp in Jolo town on Jolo Island, a stronghold of al Qaida-linked militants, Sulu provincial police said.</p>
<p>Six of the wounded were brought to a nearby government hospital, and four others were sent to a Philippine marines hospital, police said. One did not need hospital treatment. None of the injuries was life threatening and everyone was later sent home, except for a woman who was under observation, according to police.</p>
<p>The Rev Romeo Villanueva, 72, said a newly ordained priest, the Rev Ricky Bacoldol, who was assisting him, was thrown off his feet by the impact of the blast and suffered a slight leg injury. &#8220;I was reading the Gospel. I was not yet finished when there was a loud explosion,&#8221; Villanueva said.</p>
<p>He said the roof over the front of the church collapsed and wooden beams and other debris flew in all directions. The organist was spared from harm when a portion of the ceiling shielded him from the blast, Villanueva said.</p>
<p>There were about 50 people inside the church but many more were coming in at the time, he said.</p>
<p>According to investigators, the explosive device appeared to have been placed inside a black plastic bag and may have been detonated through a cell phone, parts of which were recovered at the scene.</p>
<p>The Philippines is predominantly Catholic, but Christians are a minority on Jolo and nearby island provinces.</p>
<p>President Benigno Aquino III&#8217;s spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, condemned Saturday&#8217;s bombing, saying it &#8220;violates the basic tenets of respect and peace of all who hold their faith dear&#8221;. He said there could be no religious or political justification for the attack.</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear who was responsible. Similar bomb attacks in the majority Muslim island province have been blamed on Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, who have gained notoriety for high-profile kidnappings and beheadings. The Abu Sayyaf is on a US list of terrorist organisations and is suspected of having received funds and training from al Qaida.</p>
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