TIMORESE CATHOLICS ARE TARGETS OF VIOLENCES

VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- In a sharply worded article published in its September 9 issue, L'Osservatore Romano has called attention to violence directed against Catholics in East Timor.

"It is against the Catholic community and its pastors-- who have always been agents of dialogue and reconciliation-- that the violence of the armed bands has been directed," the Vatican newspaper noted. The paper reported that Bishop Basilio do Nascimento, the apostolic administrator of Baucau, has been attacked, as well as Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo of Dili. There have also been a series of attacks on parish churches and convents in Timor, the story continued.

Bishop Belo, who fled Dili after an attack on his home, is expected to arrive in Rome shortly, and meet with Pope John Paul II on September 10 or 11. Bishop Belo, the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has reportedly been in contact with the Vatican Secretariat of State by telephone from Australia, providing reports and advice on the situation in Timor.

CWN - Catholic World News