Singapore: The Nobel Prize-winning former head of the Roman Catholic church in East Timor has been accused of sexually abusing boys during the country’s independence struggle in the 1990s.
The Vatican will investigate the claims made against Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo in a report by Dutch news magazineDe Groene Amsterdammer,its representative in East Timor said.
The publication quoted two men who alleged that as teenagers,between the ages of 14 and 16,they were sexually abused by Belo at his residence in Dili and then paid money by the bishop.
“He knows that the boys have no money. So when he invited you,you came over and gave you some money,” the report quoted one of the alleged victims as saying. “But meanwhile you are a victim. That’s the way he did.”
Belo,74,a revered figure in deeply Catholic East Timor who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 with current Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta,hung up the phone immediately when approached by the magazine for comment.
But the allegations contained in the report would be investigated by the Vatican,said Marco Sprizzi,its representative in East Timor.
“Pope Francis is so much engaged in zero tolerance so no doubt after an article like that,they are investigating and they will investigate deeply,” he toldThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age. “I’m sure 100 per cent of that.”
Belo,who now lives in Portugal,became a Timorese hero during the Indonesian occupation and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his non-violent resistance.
In September 1999,he was evacuated on an Australian Air Force plane to Darwin as pro-Indonesia militia attacked his home,where 5000 people had sought refuge from violence in the aftermath of the East Timor independence vote.
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