NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

    VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The Holy See has called upon the UN's Human Rights Commission to recognize the fact that, in East Timor, violence has been used as a means of annulling the results of a popular referendum.

    Speaking on behalf of the Vatican at Geneva meeting on September 23, Msgr. Giuseppe Bertello observed that the recent massacres in East Timor were not an ordinary civil conflict, but an attempt "to wash out, in blood, the will of the overwhelming majority of the people" there. Along with UN peacekeepers and humanitarian aid, the international community should launch an inquiry into the massacres, he said.

    The spasm of violence that swept over East Timor came in the wake of a referendum in which 80 percent of the voters chose independence from Indonesia. The militia groups which were responsible for the bloodshed favored continuing ties with Indonesia, and had sought to prevent the election from taking place. Catholic Church leaders have argued that the wave of killings was a concerted attempt to force the imposition of martial law, and thus abort the drive toward independence.

    Speaking of the "heavy price" paid by the Catholic Church because of her advocacy for human rights in East Timor, Msgr. Bertello expressed the dismay of the Holy See that "after the tragedies in Rwanda and Kosovo, mankind is still not capable of learning the lessons of history." He cited the words of Pope John Paul II-- that the recent massacres have shown "a new defeat for the cause of humanity."

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