Pressekonferanse etter audiens med Pave Johannes Paul II

BISHOP BELO MEETS WITH POPE, PRESS

VATICAN (CWN) -- Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, the apostolic administrator of East Timor who was recently honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, today held a brief press conference in Rome, after a private meeting with Pope John Paul II.

Bishop Belo reported that the Holy Father had encouraged him in his pastoral work, saying that while the Nobel Prize was "a blessing," it should also spur him to greater efforts on behalf of peace. For his own part, the bishop said that he is willing to die for the sake of his people.

Bishop Belo reported that the Pope had not cautioned him, or sought to constrain his activism. In fact, he said, the Pope is "quite happy" with his work. "He understands the situation well," he added. The bishop spoke with the Holy Father for only a short time -- perhaps five minutes.

"I am doing nothing more than putting into practice the social teaching of the Church, and the magisterium of the popes, including what Pope John Paul II has said regarding peace, justice, and reconciliation," Bishop Belo told reporters. He promised to continue working with "the same enthusiasm, the same honesty, the same fidelity." And when asked whether he harbored any personal fears, he answered that he is ready to die for his people.

The people of East Timor must be respected, the Nobel laureate continued, in their "cultural, ethnic, and spiritual identity." He insisted that their human rights must be honored, and they must be allowed to work toward their own material, spiritual, and moral development. He mentioned the difficult question of emigration among the young people of his community, who leave their homeland in search of work elsewhere because there is very little opportunity for productive work or study in East Timor itself.

Asked about his relationship with the bishops' conference of Indonesia, Bishop Belo said that he enjoyed a good rapport with his brother bishops, but that he took part in meetings only as an observer, since East Timor does not recognize itself as a part of the Indonesian nation.

The bishop refused to answer questions which he characterized as primarily political, such as queries about the role Portugal might play in solving tensions between East Timor and Indonesia. When asked about his relationship with government authorities in Jakarta, he answered only that he sought to serve his people and "improve their situation" as well as he could.