An 18-inch pipe bomb was discovered by the Philadelphia police on February 19 behind Pennsylvania’s St. Dominic Catholic Church. The pipe bomb was first discovered by a passerby around 2 p.m. and soon the surrounding streets were shut down by the police. The bomb was later safely removed by the Philadelphia Police Bomb Squad. It has been reported by the church’s priest, Father Edward T. Kearns, that he does not think that the bomb was placed near the church as a direct threat to it. The location where the bomb was found created a potential danger to a freight line in Philadelphia. A number of people including students and homeless people cross the tracks in order to go to St. Dominic.
Christian Headlines reports:
On Sunday afternoon, Philadelphia police discovered an 18-inch pipe bomb behind a Catholic church in Holmesburg. Pennsylvania.
According to FOX 29, a passerby initially found the pipe bomb – a PVC pipe with capped ends and black powder on it – behind St. Dominic Catholic Church at around 2 p.m.
Police then responded to the scene and shut down the surrounding streets. The Philadelphia Police Bomb Squad later arrived at the scene to remove the pipe bomb.
As reported by The Detroit Catholic, Father Edward T. Kearns, the priest at St. Dominic, does not believe that the bomb was a direct threat to his church.
“I was surprised,” Father Kearns told OSV News. “I was watching a golf match. They were very quiet when they came in to pick it up and take it away.”
“I don’t think it was in connection to us,” he continued. “It was behind us, not on our property, (but) on the other side of the railroad tracks, on Conrail’s property. I know the cops, and I spoke to them directly. It was 100 yards from my church. It’s a big cemetery, and I have fencing around it. The bomb was found another 20 feet from my fence.”
Police, he said, also told him the bomb “wasn’t able to be exploded.”
“It was what they call a dud. Thank God,” he said.
The area where the device was found posed a potential threat to the Philadelphia freight line. The incident comes just weeks after a freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
According to Father Kearns, people, including homeless people and students from the nearby Father Judge Catholic High School, would pass over the tracks to get to St. Dominic.
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