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Because of the imminence and severity of the crisis in East Timor and the Vatican's intrinsical involvement, all the stories today are on East Timor.

Bishop Belo speaks out in special interview with FIDES news agency in Rome

    The Nobel Laureate Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, head of the see of Dili and spiritual leader of East Timor where tens of thousands are being slaughtered or forced into exile daily, met yesterday with the FIDES news agency for a one-on-one interview with the beleaguered bishop. He is still in Rome, having met with the Holy Father for an extended period of time on Monday and is anxious to return to his flock in Dili as soon as it is safe to travel there again. For more, click on East Timor terror .

    VATICAN (FIDES/ CWNews.com) -- Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo is convinced that behind the violence in East Timor lie not only political and economic motives, but also a violent desire for revenge on the part of Indonesia. The FIDES news servce had a chance to speak with the bishop, who had just had a long conversation with Cardinal Jozef Tomko, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Here is the text of the FIDES interview:

Q: Bishop Belo, what is most needed in this situation?

BISHOP BELO: The first thing is to send in an international peacekeeping force. On this we must insist. Within days a UN force must take over the island to restore calm. The second step is a humanitarian mission to provide assistance to the people who are displaced in Timor and in other Indonesian islands.

Q: Do you think there can be collaboration between the UN forces and those of Indonesia?

BELO: I have lost all confidence in the Indonesian army. It appears to be there only to oppress the people. It would be better if they were excluded, and the peace mission run by the UN multinational contingent. The Indonesian military has lost all credibility; it has demonstrated that it is unable or unwilling to keep peace and order.

Q: And yet you were rescued by Indonesian troops..

BELO: "Rescued" or to be more explicit "taken." And then the contradiction is evident: They save a bishop and murder his flock?

Q: Why is Indonesia afraid of little East Timor? What does East Timor mean for Jakarta?

BELO: There are various reasons and the situation is complex. Besides economic and political goals, behind the campaign of violence there are strong feelings of revenge against resistance leaders and against the Church. The point is that the difference in values in question is too great: between those who speak the truth and those who spread lies. The army and the government want the people to be like obedient sheep, without will or reasoning. But the people have their dignity; they want to be Timorese. The referendum was a slap in the face for Jakarta and the violence is the reaction.

A: Do you see this maneuver as a plan to strengthen some internal leadership?

BELO: It is possible. There are some people without scruples, who would not hesitate to sacrifice thousands of lives to maintain their own power.

A: The Church has been targeted because she is identified with the pro- independence movement. Perhaps it would have been better to be less involved?

BELO: The Church became involved to defend principles and human rights. Self determination is also a value. And even if we were "too much" involved, this is no reason for murdering clergy and religious and destroying church structures. Where is the civilization, where are the human rights? A government must be expected to have a minimum of respect for these values.

A: Would you describe this as inter-religious conflict?

BELO: No, I would not say so. I have no evidence to that effect. But there is evident violation of human rights. A country which upholds the Pancasila [the Indonesian national ideology of harmony among the different religions of a nation], which professes belief in God, acts with methods which are ferocious and repressive. How is this possible?

A: What do you expect from the universal Church?

BELO: The Church and the Pope have lifted their voice to stop the massacres. Now we must involve all the bishops' conferences, justice and peace commissions, Caritas offices, and other humanitarian organisations, in a campaign of solidarity to bring assistance to the victimized people of East Timor.

Q: When do you return to Dili?

BELO: I am ready to go, even tomorrow--as soon as the multinational troops land on the island. I cannot wait to be back among my people.

Indonesia militia trying to destroy everything before help arrives in East Timor, possibly by Sunday

    The United Nations reported late yesterday that pro-Indonesian militia youth torched the UN compound after observers were forced to evacuate to Darwin, Australia. The worst is feared regarding the fate of those East Timorite Catholics who had taken refuge in the compound which from last reports was ablaze. Meanwhile East Timorese freedom fighters reached Portuguese officials by shortwave with the dire call for help, for they have no way of defending themselves and minutes are the difference between life and death. For more, click on UN compound torched.

    DILI, East Timor (CWNews.com) - United Nations officials said on Tuesday that Indonesian militiamen may have set their compound in East Timor on fire after UN staff and refugees had been evacuated to Australia.

    The skeleton UN staff, now staying at the Australian consulate, said they could see black smoke rising from the direction of their headquarters, but the reigning violence in Dili prevented them from verifying that. The report came just hours after 110 UN workers and 1,300 refugees had left Australia.

    The UN also said that more than 200,000 East Timorese at risk for starvation because they don't have access to food or drinking water. They added that up to 100,000 people had been forced out of East Timor to the neighboring country of West Timor.

    In Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, nearly 1,000 protesters marched on government buildings to demand the resignation of President B.J. Habibie and to protest the military's influence in the government. "The military kill people in East Timor. We students must challenge them," said one protest organizer, who identified himself by the single name of Lachman. Indonesia's military is accused of backing the anti-independence militias in East Timor.

    Meanwhile, in New York, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas negotiated with UN officials on an international peacekeeping force that could be in East Timor by Saturday. But David Ximenes, a spokesman for East Timor's independence movement, told Portugal's TSF radio that killings in Dili are continuing and said: "Three or four more days will be too late. We can't defend ourselves. We're unarmed."

Bishop Belo confirms the genocide plans were in the works before the elections last month

   Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, in a press conference in Rome yesterday after his meeting with the Pope and his exclusive interview with FIDES, spoke to the world press and confirmed that plans to kill, burn, loot and other despicable crimes were in the planning stages well before the election. Pro-Indonesian forces realized the will of the people and no matter the vote, were determined to shut them down and stifle their efforts for freedom. The Church was the main target because of her backing of the freedom measure, her association with the poor and oppressed, and his own recognition globally in 1996 by the Nobel Peace Prize which embarrassed Indonesia for their sins were laid bare to the world. For more, click on Bishop Belo's press conference

    VATICAN CITY, SEP 14 (ZENIT).- Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, requested John Paul II to ask U.S. President Bill Clinton for an international peace intervention to put an end to the genocide of the people of East Timor, and to send urgently needed food and medicine for the people. Clinton "owns the world," the Bishop said to a reporter, "we hope he will be reasonable!"

    Bishop Belo, apostolic administrator of Dili, which depends directly from the Holy See, left the dramatic circumstances of his country to arrive in Rome. Yesterday, he joined John Paul II for a prolonged lunch in which he informed the Pope first-hand of the situation in East Timor.

    This morning, Bishop Belo met with reporters in the Holy See's Press Hall, to explain details of his meeting with the Holy Father. Bishop Belo expressed his point of view very clearly to a room filled to capacity of reporters from all over the world. "The United Nations must intervene with a peace contingent to stop the militias from killing innocent people. Moreover, there is urgent need of water, food and medicines for the people, who have fled to the mountains."

    The Bishop, who this afternoon was received by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the president of Italy, asked "the Lord and the Virgin for forgiveness" for having abandoned his country at such a difficult time. "I have left the country to warn the Holy See about what is happening. A tragedy of enormous proportions: 10,000 dead, 80,000 deported and 100,000 refugees in the mountains. I have assured the Pope that the minute the peace forces arrive I shall return to East Timor, to be in the midst of my wandering sheep."

Holy See's Commitment

    Bishop Belo acknowledged the diplomatic activity promoted directly by John Paul II and carried out by the Holy See to find a peaceful solution to the dramatic situation in East Timor.

    As is well known, on August 30, 78.5% of the population of this former Portuguese colony voted in favor of independence from Indonesia. The Indonesian military did not accept the result and unleashed the militias that are plundering this corner of the Island, deporting, killing and burning all in sight. Among its primary targets are young people, as well as Bishops, priests, religious, and Church structures.

    "Crimes against humanity are being committed in East Timor -- grave violations of human rights. The international community is aware of the abuses being perpetrated by the militias and it must put a stop to them. In other situations, including recent ones, it has taken adequate measures, sending military contingents to guarantee peace. Why are the same measures not taken in East Timor?" the Bishop asked.

Planned Genocide

    The Nobel Prize winner disclosed that "since the beginning of 1999 the Indonesian military knew they had lost the referendum, which was to favor Timor's independence; for this reason, they created militias. They armed them and gave them means of transportation, as well as logistical bases. The militias are made up of people from Timor who are trained by Indonesian troops. Their objective was to terrorize the people so that they would not vote for independence. In early April they killed 25 people and an additional 200 were executed outside their homes. In mid April, they murdered the son of one of the resistance leaders and 70 others. They were not punished for these acts of violence. Their crimes have met with impunity; the militias can do what they wish, without incurring legal sanctions."

Outbreak of Violence

    "As soon as the results were made known, a violent reaction began. They attacked the homes of Bishops, the seminaries and schools. On Sunday, September 5, they surrounded the curia of the Archdiocese of Dili, killed 25 people, burnt all the documents and destroyed half the building. The next day, they began shooting with pistols and later with automatic weapons. The police stationed there protected the militias. All those who could, fled to the mountains. At least 100,000 people have taken refuge in the mountains. After attacking Dili, the militias began to kill and burn villages. Those who remained in the city were deported to West Timor."

    Bishop Belo requested that the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and the International Red Cross allow those deported to West Timor to return to East Timor.

Persecution of the Church

    Bishop Belo also explained that the militias' work is part of a "planned strategy against the Catholic Church." According to the Bishop, "the militias' direct attack, supported by the Jakarta military, is due to the fact that the Church has never given in to political pressures and has been the sole voice of those who cannot speak or have never been listened to. In fact, the award of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize was considered an offense by the Indonesian government. The attack on the Church is direct vengeance against this honor to the Bishop. The military are also furious because they have tried in every way possible to convince the Church to preach integration with Indonesia. We, the Bishops of Timor, signed a pastoral letter in which we clearly stated that each one had to vote according to his conscience and that the referendum was a possibility to decide one's own future."

Manipulation in West

    The Bishop ended the press round by severely reprimanding an Italian newspaper ("La Repubblica") for distorting his words to the point of having him say that he had appealed to the people of Timor to take up arms. "I have never spoken these words; on the contrary, I have asked for prayers and forgiveness. Forgiveness until the end of the world. The Church has a role of pacification. We shall continue to seek truth and justice," Belo concluded. ZE99091404

Half of East Timor's Catholics wiped out since election, religious being executed at alarming rate by Muslim militia

    Missionary priests and nuns, diocesan priests and others have either been forced to flee, missing or presumed dead as each day the Catholic population of East Timor dwindles to cataclysmic proportions. The Orders' General Houses have sought help and appealed to anyone who would listen. Those remaining are truly living the Gospel despite the persecution and impending danger, striving to shelter and protect as many as possible as the Indonesia Bishops call for help as well. In addition, the NCCB have petitioned the President and the United States government to provide whatever they can in protection without delay before all are wiped out. For more, click on Annihilation in East Timor.

    VATICAN CITY, SEP 14 (ZENIT).- "Please Hurry!," was the call made today on the front page of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. Vito Orlando, the Salesians' spokesman, also said that "to wait a week to send the peace force would be too late" since "the refugees in the mountains will not survive."

    The campaign against the Catholic Church in East Timor has decimated the presence of priests, and men and women religious, some of whom have been cruelly murdered.

    On Saturday night, a 70-year old German Jesuit was killed in Dili. The death of Fr. Karl Albrecht, director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Timor, was confirmed by the Jesuit General Curia in Rome. According to a reconstruction of events, the priest ran into an intruder in his home in Dili, the capital. He was killed by a machine-gun blast in the stomach.

    Yesterday, militias supporting Indonesia took the life of a Protestant minister, Francisco de Vasconcelos, who was killed in Manatuto, in the north of the island, while seeking refuge along with thousands of other people.

    According to the international agency "Fides," half of the 53 diocesan priests, 160 religious and 300 nuns, who worked in East Timor, have had to flee.

    The case of the Salesians is truly dramatic. Of the 100 religious who worked in the country, those in Dili had to flee to West Timor; those in other areas have sought refugee in the mountains, in order to continue serving the people.

    There is no news on the four Divine Word priests of Baucau. The three who work in Oekusi have decided to stay with the people. Another religious of this Order, who works in the city of Maliana, will also stay in the school he directs. The centers in Nenuk and Kupang, directed by Divine Word priests and located in West Timor, are offering assistance to refugees in the mountains.

    The most numerous group of religious sisters were the Canesians: 112 distributed in 11 communities, in addition to 20 novices and postulants. Following the outbreak of war, 42 Sisters were fled to West Timor; 7 are in Atambua, and 4 in Jakarta along with 10 postulants. Others have been able to stay in East Timor to assist the refugees.

    The Salesian Sisters are helping throughout the territory. The 26 who are natives of Timor, have been able to stay in the country, while others have been forced to flee.

    Of a total of 60 Carmelite Sisters, 45 have gone to Kupang, while another 15 remained in Timor to help the refugees. The Army has forced 8 Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres to leave East Timor and go to West Timor.

    Meanwhile, Bishop Anton Pain Ratu, of the diocese of Atambua in West Timor, asked all his priests and faithful to do everything in their power to receive and protect the unending flow of refugees from East Timor, who now number over 100,000. ZE99091406

    Meanwhile in Washington D.C., Noticias Eclesiales reports that the President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/U.S. Catholic Conference, Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, sent President Clinton a strongly worded letter asking for an urgent action to put end to the persecution that thousands are suffering in East Timor. The letter, sent last Thursday, emphasized the need to send a peacekeeping force to the afflicted region.

    Bishop Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, speaking on behalf of the Bishops of the United States, condemned both the "bloody persecution" that the Church suffers in the island, and the Indonesian government's negative to permit the action of the UN peacekeeping forces, which were accepted only at the beginning of this week.

    "We have been overly concerned not to offend the Indonesian authorities who, by all accounts, are themselves unable to control the murderous bands in East Timor, but have been fully successful in preventing the essential deployment of an international peacekeeping force," said Bishop Fiorenza.

    The UN has informed that they will temporarily close their compound in Dili, menaced for days by rampaging militiamen. The UN mission will close "because of the very poor conditions in the compound and security concerns," informed a spokesman. Nearly 1300 persons were evacuated and sent to Australia.

Pope is the last bastion of hope as the only voice of reason

    To show the impact of Pope John Paul II a liberal Italian publication is praising the conservative Sovereign Pontiff for his unyielding efforts to uphold the Sanctity of Life and the cause for humanity the world over when many are sitting back and taking a wait-and-see attitude. They label his efforts and foresight as the "Wojtyla Doctrine" for he is the lone voice crying in the wilderness warning the world of the atrocities before even the media becomes aware. They ask where the world would be without this wise and holy voice of reason who is not afraid to tweak consciences. For more, click on Voice crying in the wilderness.

    ROME, SEP 14 (ZENIT).- "What would the world scene be like without the elderly Pope's voice calling for justice and humanity? What would the drama in Timor be without the Catholic Church and its international organization and Roman centralism led by John Paul II, who assumes the role of spokesman of fundamental rights?" These were the questions raised by the center-left Italian newspaper, "La Repubblica," in an editorial signed by Vatican correspondent Marco Politi, which highlights the Pope's leadership in defense of human rights, made explicit in the case of a small country like East Timor, in itself of little world interest, which suffered a genocide met by silence on the part of many countries unwilling to confront the giant Indonesian oppressor.

    In the article, entitled "Wojtyla's Doctrine," Politi points out that "for days and days the Pope was the only one among world leaders who denounced the unbearable massacres and intolerable international silence."

    "A voice crying in the desert. The only voice that tenaciously called for urgent international intervention in defense of the rights of peoples and individuals," Politi remarks. "Finally, the United Nations began to respond, as did many powers, among them the United States, which realized that verbal condemnations are not enough when whole communities are being deported, churches demolished and heads barbarously displayed on wooden stakes. If Jakarta has at last said yes to the (U.N.) blue helmets, it is also thanks to this persistent voice."

    At the end of the 20th century, faced with an international order that is unable to stop such conflicts, Politi highlights the "Wojtyla Doctrine's" contribution to humanitarian intervention.

    "There are those who ask if the Vatican has not left pacifism behind and opted for interventionism. But whoever speaks this way does not know Wojtyla. Ever since the days of the war in Bosnia, John Paul II has preached the duty of humanitarian intervention. Arms must be silenced whenever possible, and all peaceful avenues explored -- this is his thought. But when the wayfarer is attacked by the evildoer, then the good Samaritans must intervene, including with force," Politi continued.

    "The 'Wojtyla Doctrine' is not simplistic. It is sophisticated. It states that peoples have the right to individuality, but not necessarily to a state for every ethnic group. It emphasizes that the large states must not dominate the small; the sovereignty of all must be respected. Each state has the duty to guarantee the fundamental rights of its own citizens; if it breaks this pact and persecutes them, shedding their blood, then the international community must intervene to preserve everyone's most cherished good: life," Politi writes. The author points out that this is the line of Vatican diplomacy.

    "John Paul II has not set aside his dream of global coexistence, where ethics and law are in harmony. In fact, he does not consider this a dream but a necessary condition so that the world of the third millennium will not fall prey to the endemic spiral of economic, military, ethnic and religious conflicts. Will the 21st century by the scene of 'clashes of civilization,' as prophesied by North American political scientist Samuel Huntington? Pope Wojtyla counterbalances the prophecy with the civilization of law and coexistence," the editorial states.

    Because of this, although it is fashionable to criticize the United Nations' inefficiency, the Pontiff emphasizes its role as international arbiter and the need to give it the necessary means to carry out its mission. ZE99091403

For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site at the CWN home page and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales and the features, dossiers and Daily Dispatches at ZENIT International News Agency. CWN, NE and ZENIT are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provide this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

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September 15, 1999 volume 10, no. 175   DAILY CATHOLIC