After visiting Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, he arrived on Monday in East Timor, an almost entirely Catholic country that has been independent since 2002.
Catholic clergy among heroes of the fight for independence
East Timor is a former Portuguese colony on half of the island of Timor. After the Portuguese left in 1975, it was occupied by Indonesia, which still holds the western part of the island.
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Among the heroes of the independence struggle were Catholic clergy, including Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, who, together with José Ramos-Horta, the country’s current president, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. Belo is not on the island; the Vatican punished him with “restrictions” and sent him to Europe two years ago, when the scandal broke. A Dutch newspaper reported that he sexually abused boys years ago. Some people expect the Pope to respond to the matter.
