The Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, commonly known as Jolo Cathedral, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Jolo Jolo () is a volcanic island in the southwest Philippines and the primary island of the province of Sulu, on which the capital of the same name is situated. It is located in the Sulu Archipelago, between Borneo and Mindanao, and has a populatio ...

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilaya' sin Lupa' Sūg''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago. It was part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamoro Autonomous R ...

and the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo. The cathedral is located in

, a volcanic island in Sulu Province of the

Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Bangsamoro, officially the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM; ; ), is an Autonomous regions of the Philippines, autonomous region in the Philippines, located in the southwestern portion of the island of Mindanao. Replacin ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The cathedral is dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

under the title

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is a Roman Catholic Titles of Mary, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated as patron saint, patroness of the Carmelites, Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on M ...

Attacks

On January 10, 2010, a

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

thrown at the tombs of Francis Joseph McSorley and

Benjamin de Jesus Benjamin David de Jesus, OMI (25 July 1940 – 4 February 1997) was a Philippine prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the Apostolic Vicar of Jolo from 1992 until his murder in 1997. He was the first Filipino bishop to be assassinated in ...

, two former

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

s, caused no injuries but shattered the windows. The blast occurred an hour before a

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

was scheduled to be celebrated. There were no injuries. On May 20, 2010, a grenade exploded in front of the cathedral at 9:30 in the evening. The cathedral suffered minor damage. There were no reported fatalities or injuries.

2019 bombings

On January 27, 2019, the cathedral was bombed during a mass, killing at least 18 people and injuring 82 others. The

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

claimed responsibility for the attack. The church building was repaired following the attacks. It was reconsecrated in July 2019.

2020 bombing

On August 24, 2020, two bombings occurred in

, resulting in the deaths of seven

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word ...

, six

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

s, one

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

officer and a bomber, while 75 other people were wounded. One of the two attacks was carried out by a

female suicide bomber Female suicide bombers are women who undertake suicide attacks, wherein the bomber kills herself while simultaneously killing targeted people. Suicide bombers are normally viewed as male political radicals but since the 1960s female suicide attac ...

near the cathedral.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline Roman Catholic churches completed in 1864 Buildings and structures in Sulu Churches destroyed by Muslims Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Philippines 19th-century religious buildings and structures in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo 1864 establishments in the Philippines