In 2002, the head of the Church of East Timor suddenly resigned and moved to Mozambique, after being accused of sexually abusing children for 20 years.
Pope Francis has been asked to address the issue of sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church during his next visit to East Timor.
The petition, made by the influential non-profit organization BishopAccountability.orghas asked one of the most important archdioceses in the United States, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, to convince the Pope to speak out against sexual abuse during his trip.
Two important Catholic figures in East Timor have been at the center of sexual abuse accusationsamong them Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, who was formerly head of the Catholic Church of East Timor. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 and is highly regarded in the country for his instrumental role in East Timor’s independence from Indonesia in 2002.
But Belo He resigned suddenly that same yearciting health problems, and was sent to Mozambique to work as a missionary before moving to Portugal.
Was secretly sanctioned by the Vatican so that he would not have contact with children or East Timor following accusations that he sexually abused minors over a period of 20 years, which finally became public and were recognized by the Vatican in 2022.
BishopAccountability.org noted that Belo continues to enjoy popularity in East Timor and that state officials, such as the president of East Timor, José Ramos-Horta, have publicly praised Belo and welcomed him to the country.
The Church of East Timor has downplayed or has questioned the accusations against Melo and other American missionaries who confessed to abusing girls. Instead, many focus on the role they played in saving lives during the country’s bloody fight against Indonesia for independence.
He Pope Francis’ trip to East Timor it will be the first one to make to the country, although the Vatican has not yet commented on whether it will meet with victims of abuse or mention them directly, as it has done previously.
About 98% of East Timor’s 1.3 million people they are catholicmaking it the most Catholic country in the world outside the Vatican.
Their heroic status and the social factors of Asia, where the culture tends to give a lot of power to adults and authority figures, help explain why bishops continue to be venerated, while in other parts of the world these cases are received with indignationsaid Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org.
“Bishops are powerful, and in developing countries, where the Church is dominant, They are excessively powerful“said Barrett Doyle.
