officials said injured 20, including at least three seriously.
Police said a man dressed as a choir member set off the explosion during Mass at the St. Francis Church Sunday, July 16, in a densely populated area of the capital Lilongwe, igniting a "ferocious fire." It was not immediately clear if the man acted alone or with support from militants.
Parish priest Peter Mateso, told journalists his congregation has still no idea why the church was targeted during a during a morning Mass attended by hundreds.
The head of a local Catholic radio station, Father Gabriel Jana, reportedly said, "This guy just entered the church with a five-liter jerry can of petrol and set it alight; nobody knows why."
SEVERE BURNS
In published statements the Kamuzu Central Hospital, Dr. Haji Juma, said one man with severe burns was still in a critical but stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit. African media quoted Juma as saying that two women were also admitted to the hospital, "one suffering from a fractured limb and another complaining of chest pains after being trampled upon."
Police spokesman Willy Mwaluka told local media that no one has been arrested over the incident but added that Inspector General of Police ordered "an all-out manhunt" to find "a "heartless terrorist." He said officers were "scouting all over the township and other parts of the city."
Home Affairs Minister Bob Khamisa condemned the incident and ordered police to thoroughly investigate the motive. "Places of worship are sacred and should be the safest places for society. I want to assure Malawians that government will tighten security in all public places," he said in a statement.
CHURCHES CONCERNED
Church leaders have expressed concern however that the incident could spark an era of renewed violence against religious institutions. "We have heard in [recent years] about thieves terrorizing and robbing people in the house of God but this is a new level," the president of the Pastors Voice Association, Pastor Thaulo Phiri, was quoted as saying.
"These people have a specific mission to disrupt the work of the church but by the grace of God they will not succeed," Phiri told The Daily Times newspaper of Malawi. He urged police to hunt for those responsible.
Church observers recall that several Catholic institutions were also targeted three years ago in the southern Muslim belt of Mangochi, when five Muslim entrepreneurs were reportedly arrested by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on suspicion of having links to the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden.
CHRISTIANS "DISCOURAGED"
Earlier in 1992, a number of Catholic churches were reportedly attacked when Catholic bishops protested against the then single-party dictatorship of the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda, which heralded the introduction of multiparty politics. "We don’t want the clergy and Christians to live [again] in fear and be discouraged from attending church services for fear of these terrorists," said Pastor Phiri.
The Catholic Church in Malawi is the largest single denomination accounting for up to five million of the country’s 12 million population, according to estimates. Muslims have suffered as well under extremism.
Some mosques were also torched when former president Bakili Muluzi, a Muslim, won re-election in the disputed 1999 election which the opposition – led by a Christian Gwanda Chakuamba – expected to win, analysts say. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Malawi).
