The President of the Timorese Republic preferred not to comment this Thursday on suspicions of sexual abuse allegedly committed by Dili’s former Apostolic Administrator, Ximenes Belo, pending information from the Holy See.
“I saw the statements of the Holy See, through the Nunciature, to Lusa, and for now we are waiting for the next steps, the next developments, by the legitimate entity, with credibility, who can then guide us in managing this situation” , he said. José Ramos-Hortato Lusa, upon arrival in Dili, after participating in the UN General Assembly.
“I want to wait for further developments from the Holy See,” repeated the Timorese leader, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 at the same time as Ximenes Belo.
The head of state referred to statements to Lusa by the Pope’s highest representative in East Timor, Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, who said on Wednesday that the Ximenes Belo case is in the hands of competent bodies of the Holy See, without confirming whether or not the prelate was investigated for child abuse.
“Personally, I can neither confirm nor deny it, as it is a matter of seriousness on my part, as the jurisdiction rests with my superiors with the Holy See,” Sprizzi said.
“This matter should be addressed directly to the Holy See,” he said, when asked about the veracity of the allegations of abuse of minors allegedly committed over several years by Ximenes Belo, who now lives in Portugal.
Marco Sprizzi explained that the matter is “under the attention of the competent Dicasteries of the Holy See and the Secretary of State to His Holiness Pope Francis”, in reference to the structures that make up the Roman Curia.
“They are investigating this article and its contents and others that are being published at the moment and from there any answer will come directly from the Holy See,” he explained. The case is directly with the Vatican and the Holy See. The local Church and the Nunciature no longer have direct powers,” he stressed.
In its online edition, the Dutch newspaper De Groene Amsterdammer on Wednesday published testimonials from alleged victims of sexual abuse when they were minors, crimes that have been committed by Ximenes Belo for several years.
Story of the day | The abuse by Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. ‘The bishop had money for me, to make sure I would keep my mouth shut’ @tjitskelingsma https://t.co/FblF1PILJK
– By Groene Amsterdammer (@DeGroene) September 28, 2022
The newspaper explains that several victims of the crimes, allegedly committed in the 1980s and 1990s, and 20 people with knowledge of the case, including “individuals, members of the government, politicians, civil society workers and elements of the Church”.
“More than half of the people know a victim of abuse personally and others are aware of the case. De Groene Amsterdammer spoke with other victims who refused to tell their story in the media,” says journalist Tjirske Lingsma.
“Paulo and Roberto,” the two alleged victims interviewed for the article – who asked for anonymity – “know other victims,” says the paper, one of the country’s leading weekly newspapers.
Marco Sprizzi said the Dutch newspaper was “correct” in contacting the nunciature to whom it asked several questions “forwarded from the nunciature to the competent Dicasteries of the Holy See”.
Sprizzi declined to confirm whether any restrictions had been imposed on Ximenes Belo, namely the ban on visits to East Timor, confirming only that “he was not secularized”.
The contours of Ximenes Belo’s departure from Timor-Leste, in November 2002, were never fully clarified by the Vatican, making the subject taboo in the country.
Other church sources in East Timor, heard by Lusa, explained that “no victim” personally reported alleged abuses, both at the nunciature and at the Timorese church, without any information about any complaint to the civil authorities.
Yet they point to a study whose contours are unknown.
In 2020, in statements to Lusa, a senior element of the Catholic Church in Dili, who asked for anonymity, declined to reveal whether or not there was a formal resignation of Ximenes Belo by the then Pope John Paul II.
However, the same source referred to what he said were “instructions” to “keep a low profile, not to travel, not to display episcopal insignia, to have a modest demeanor”.
Part of the silence over the Nobel Peace Prize is due, the same source admitted, to the fact that the Vatican’s stance on sexual abuse in the church has changed with the last two popes, with the adoption of a “zero tolerance” policy.
“There was a progressive awareness from the church about the seriousness of the matter and about the attitude, the response that the church needs to have to eradicate and correct as much as possible this crime within the church, especially within the clergy,” he said. the same source.
At the time, Ximenes Belo announced his resignation in a statement, citing health concerns and the need for a long recovery period.
“I suffer from mental and physical fatigue, which requires a long period of recovery,” Ximenes Belo said, in a statement sharing that he had written to the Holy See requesting that he resign from the post of Apostolic Administrator of Dili , a position he has held since 1983. .
On November 27, 2002, the Vatican confirmed, through the newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano”, that “the Holy Father accepted the resignation of the office of Apostolic Administrator ‘Sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis’ of Dili (East Timor), handed over His Venerable Excellency, Monsignor Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, Titular Bishop of Lorium, in accordance with canon 401.2 of the Code of Canon Law”.
Source: DN
