In this predominantly Catholic Southeast Asian country, cases of paedophilia are still shrouded in deep secrecy.
However, the issue is expected to receive considerable attention in the coming days, as Pope Francis arrived this Monday, September 9, in East Timor, the third stage of his major Asian tour.
The 87-year-old pope will visit Dili, the capital of this island nation located between Indonesia and Australia, until the following Wednesday, before heading to Singapore, the final destination of what marks the longest journey of his papacy.
At the heart of these painful cases is notably the one of Bishop Carlos Belo, a hero in the fight for independence who has been accused of sexually abusing underage boys for about 20 years and was secretly sanctioned by the Vatican in 2020.
Bishop Belo had received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his central role in defending human rights in the country, which became independent in 2002 after over four centuries of Portuguese colonization and twenty-five years of Indonesian occupation.
In 2022, a shocking investigation by a Dutch weekly accused him—supported by testimonies—of abusing and raping young teenagers in the 1980s and 1990s and buying their silence, which forced the Vatican to make public the sanctions it had imposed on the bishop two years earlier.
La Croix conducted an on-site investigation in 2023, revealing the difficulty of breaking the silence surrounding the victims of sexual abuse in this fledgling democracy.
Prison visit
Bishop Belo, now 76, and highly respected by the people of East Timor, resigned from his duties in 2002 citing health reasons and now lives in Portugal.
Despite the serious accusations, he still enjoys broad support among the country’s 1.3 million inhabitants, 98% of whom are Catholic.
“We feel like we’ve lost him. We miss him,” said Maria Dadi, president of the East Timor National Youth Council, to Agence France-Presse (AFP), emphasising that “he truly contributed to the fight for East Timor.”
In another case, an American priest, Richard Daschbach, was defrocked and found guilty in 2021 of sexually abusing young orphaned and underprivileged girls.
Despite being sentenced to twelve years in prison, he continues to receive support from the upper echelons of society.
In 2023, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao sparked controversy by visiting Daschbach in prison to celebrate his birthday and share a cake with him.
The official papal itinerary does not include any meetings with victims, and the Vatican has not commented on the matter.
However, Francis, who has pledged “zero tolerance” for this scourge since his election in 2013, may address the issue in one of his speeches, which would be considered a strong gesture, or privately meet with victims.
Erased mural
For victim associations in other countries, as they told AFP, the pope must “acknowledge the sexual abuses committed by Church officials” against East Timorese children.
“Those abused by Bishop Belo and other clergy in East Timor will expect a public statement from the pope about the Church’s ongoing failure to deal with its problematic clergy,” said Tony Gribben, founder of the Dromore Survivors group based in Northern Ireland.
According to Gribben, a meeting would have “limited value” for victims, akin to the apologies offered by Francis during his visit to Ireland in 2018.
“That event was a well-crafted public relations exercise for the Church. But since then, things continue as usual in the Irish Catholic Church,” he said.
The U.S. group Bishop Accountability, which documents the Church’s abuse crisis, announced that it had written a letter to an influential cardinal asking him to “intervene on behalf of the abandoned Timorese victims” with the pope.
However, for many locals, the issue is not a central one, and many even hoped to see Belo allowed to return to attend the papal visit.
“As a people, we are very saddened by Bishop Belo’s absence,” said Francisco Amaral da Silva, a 58-year-old academic.
“The government and the Catholic Church should invite him.”
Nevertheless, in Dili, there is a palpable discomfort over the idea that his name might be associated with this highly anticipated visit.
Earlier this month, a mural depicting Bishop Belo was painted on a wall beneath a sign welcoming Pope Francis. A few days later, it was erased.
- First published in La Croix International. Republished with permission.
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