Update 2/11/14, 12:09 pm eastern: Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi says that reports of an assassination attempt on Pope Francis in the Philippines are “unreliable.”

Pope Francis has made it clear that he doesn’t like security. But due to great security work, he may have narrowly missed an assassination attempt during his recent trip to the Philippines.

According to Breitbart, earlier this week, “former Special Action Force (SAF) commander Getulio Napeñas testified before the Philippine senate that the Philippine National Police had received information that Jemaah Islamiya, in coordination with Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir (alias Marwan), planned to set off a bomb near the papal convoy in Manila on January 18, 2015.”

Apparently, an explosive device was actually placed on a street that Pope Francis’ caravan was scheduled to cross. When the Philippine government learned of the plot, they simply changed Pope Francis’ caravan’s route.

But that’s not all. Because the terrorist organization behind the plot was known for being able to detonate explosives using cell phones, the Philippine government also asked local cell phone carriers to weaken or block cell phone service in Manilla during the pontiff’s five-day stay, affecting 12 million people.

So are these terrorists still a threat for the pontiff? At least one of them, Zulkifli bin Hir, who was responsible for making the bomb, was killed in late January in a Philippine government raid.

Say a prayer that Pope Francis stays safe!

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