The Norwegian Nobel Institute clarified on Thursday that it is “outside the Committee’s remit” to withdraw the Nobel Peace Prize from Ximenes Belo, suspected of sexual abuse of minors, and declined to rule on the case.
“The committee [do Nobel] rarely comments on what a Peace Prize laureate might do or say in the years after receiving the award or what a laureate might have done in the past unrelated to their effort to win the award,” said Olav Njølstad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, in Oslo, in response to Lusa.
“In general, it is also outside the remit of the Committee to withdraw a prize once it has been awarded. The statutes of the Nobel Foundation exclude this option,” Njølstad added.
The Dutch newspaper De Groene Amsterdammer published this Wednesday testimonies of alleged victims of sexual abuse when they were minors, crimes that the Timorese bishop allegedly committed for several years, as apostolic administrator of Dili.
The Vatican announced that it had imposed disciplinary sanctions on Timorese Bishop Ximenes Belo in the past two years, following allegations that he had sexually abused minors in his country in the 1990s.
In a statement, the Vatican spokesman said the cabinet that handles sexual abuse cases received complaints “about the behavior of the bishop” in 2019 and within a year imposed sanctions.
These sanctions include limits on the bishop’s movements and the exercise of his ministry, as well as the prohibition of voluntary contact with minors or with Timor-Leste.
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1996, has been a guest for several years in the Portuguese Province of the Salesian Congregation in Portugal.
These initial measures imposed by the Vatican were “modified and reinforced” in November 2021 and on both occasions Ximenes Belo formally accepted the punishment, adds Matteo Bruni’s statement.
The online edition of De Groene Amsterdammer explained that the newspaper heard from several victims and 20 people with knowledge of the case of sexual abuse of minors, including “individuals, members of the government, politicians, employees of civil society organizations and elements of church”. “. .
“More than half of the people personally know an abuse victim and others know about the case. De Groene Amsterdammer spoke with other victims, who refused to tell their story in the media,” journalist Tjirske Lingsma wrote.
The newspaper also reported that the first investigations into this alleged abuse date back to 2002, when an East Timorese reported that his brother had been abused.
In November of that year, Ximenes Belo announced his resignation from the post, alleging health problems and the need for a long recovery period.
“I suffer from mental and physical exhaustion, which requires a long period of recovery,” said Ximenes Belo, in a statement in which he reported that he had written to the Holy See requesting the resignation of the position of apostolic administrator of Dili, a position he had held since 1983.
“I have been suffering from exhaustion, physical and psychological fatigue, so I need a long period of rest to fully recover my health,” said the statement, quoted by Lusa at the time.
Ximenes Belo, now 74, explained that his request – written on the basis of canon 401 of the code of canon law – was accepted by then-Pope John Paul II.
On Wednesday, the Vatican representative in East Timor told the Lusa news agency that the case was before the competent bodies of the Holy See, without confirming whether the prelate was investigated or not.
“Personally, I cannot confirm or deny it because it is a matter of seriousness on my part, since the competence belongs to my superiors in the Holy See,” Marco Sprizzi, the Vatican’s representative in East Timor, told Lusa.
“This issue must be addressed directly to the Holy See,” he said, when asked about the veracity of the allegations of alleged abuse of minors committed over several years by Ximenes Belo, currently a resident of Portugal, which were published by the Dutch newspaper.
Source: TSF
