DILI: East Timor's Catholics reacted with shock, but also expressions of support on Friday for revered independence icon and Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo following allegations he sexually abused boys decades ago in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.
The Vatican admitted on Thursday that its sex abuse office secretly sanctioned the bishop in 2020, restricting his movements and contacts with minors, and forbidding him from having contact with his homeland. It revealed the restrictions after the Dutch magazine De Groene Amsterdammer exposed the claims against Belo by two of his alleged victims and reported there were also others.The Holy See has not responded to questions about when church officials first suspected possible misconduct by Belo, why he was allowed to retire two decades early in 2002, and why he was then sent to Mozambique to work as a missionary priest with children. He has said he retired because of health reasons and stress.
FATHER’S FAULT Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo blesses a makeshift altar as part of a ceremony paying last respects to Sergio Vieira De Mello, the former head of the United Nations Transition Authority in East Timor, in the capital Dili on Aug. 23, 2003. AP PHOTO
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