KUALA LUMPUR ? A Malaysian Muslim magazine has issued an apology after two of its journalists joined a Catholic service and allegedly desecrated the communion wafer.

The "Al Islam" magazine published an article describing how they took the wafer and spat it out after entering the church to investigate claims that Muslims were illegally converting to Christianity.

"Al Islam magazine apologizes... because the article had unintentionally hurt the feelings of Christians, especially Catholics," it said on its website Utusan Karya.

"It is also not the intention of Al Islam to insult the Christian religion nor to desecrate their house of worship," said the monthly magazine, which reports on issues concerning Malaysian Muslims.

The apology came after the archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Murphy Pakiam Thursday criticized the government's "failure to act" over the incident and sought an apology from the publication.

"The journalists have displayed utmost disrespect for the Catholic community when they admit receiving and spitting out the Holy Communion," the archbishop told a press conference.

However, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail defended the handling of the incident, saying the pair did not understand the significance of the wafer, which Catholics believe represents the body of Jesus Christ.

"The actions of the two reporters may have hurt the feelings of the people but I was satisfied that they did not intend to offend anyone. It was an act of sheer ignorance," he said Thursday.

Al Islam, a monthly magazine that reports on issues concerning Malaysian Muslims, however said the two writers also apologized for "unintentionally hurting the feelings" of Christians.

"Al Islam hopes such an incident will not happen again," it said.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has been beset by religious disputes in recent months.
The multi-ethnic country was hit with a spate of firebombings against churches and mosques in January, triggered by a dispute over the use of the word "Allah" as a translation for "God" by non-Muslims.

The rows have strained relations between majority Muslim Malays and minorities including ethnic Chinese and Indian communities who fear the country is being "Islamized."

About nine percent of Malaysia's 28 million population are Christians, including 850,000 Catholics.