Nobel Peace Prize-winning bishop accused of sexual abuse

Two alleged victims, identified as Paulo and Roberto, accuse Belo of abusing them and other boys

A bishop award-winning catholic Nobel Peace Prize has been accused of sexual abuse of minor boys in an article in a Dutch magazine, in East Timor during the 1990s.

The revelation rocked the Catholic Church in the Southeast Asian nation and forced Vatican officials and the religious order of the bishop Carlos Ximenes-Belo to search for answers.

“The news left us in a state of shock,” an official from the archdiocese of Dili, East Timor, told The Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity. He added that the archdiocese could not issue an official statement without permission from the Vatican.

• The Holy See confirmed that it imposed disciplinary sanctions on Belo in the last two years after learning of allegations of abuse.

The spokesman of Vatican said in a statement that the office in charge of sexual abuse cases received complaints “about the conduct of the bishop“In 2019 and in less than a year, he imposed the sanctions, which include restrictions on his movements and the exercise of his ministry, as well as a ban on having contact with minors and with East Timor.

Victims accuse the bishop

the dutch magazine De Groene Amsterdammer He said that two alleged victims, identified as Paulo and Roberto, accuse Belo of abusing them and other boys. He added that he was able to determine that the East Timorese government, as well as humanitarian and church officials, were aware of the abuses.

“The bishop raped and sexually abused me that night,” Roberto told the magazine. “In the morning, he fired me. I was scared because it was still dark. I had to wait before going home. He also left me money. That meant I had to keep my mouth shut. And to make sure I would come back.”

Beautiful received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 together with another independence fighter and future president of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, for his campaign for a just and peaceful solution to his country’s struggle for independence from Indonesia, a former Dutch colony.

The Nobel committee he praised Belo’s bravery in not being intimidated by the Indonesian forces. He noted that while trying to get the UN to organize a plebiscite for East Timor, he smuggled two witnesses to a 1991 massacre out of the country to testify before the UN human rights commission in Geneva.

Returning on Thursday from UN General AssemblyRamos Horta referred questions about the accusations to the Vatican.

“I prefer to wait for new measures from the Holy See,” he said. “I can’t, I don’t, I can’t make any other comment than that.”

beautifulbelieved to reside in Portugaldid not respond to a request for a telephone interview from Radio Renascença, the Portuguese church station.

Belo is a priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco, a Catholic order with influence in the Vatican. The Portuguese chapter of the Salesians said in a statement that it learned of the news “with great sadness and shock.” The chapter distanced itself from Belo by stating that he ceased to be a member of the order when he went to East Timor.