c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo is no politician, but he does have a clear agenda _ peace in his native East Timor, an island nation that has been under Indonesian occupation for 21 years, and human dignity for its citizens.

Belo, who along with fellow Timorese human rights activist Jose Ramos-Horta won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, made his agenda clear during a visit to Washington this week, lobbying President Clinton, members of Congress and the religious community to take a more activist and high-profile role in the long-simmering issue of self-determination for East Timor.

In an interview after delivering a brief homily at a Mass Wednesday (June 18) for Catholic members of Congress, Belo said his duty as bishop is”not only to preach the gospel, to save … souls,”but also to save the”human dignity”of the East Timorese.

In 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor, a small country located off the northwestern coast of Australia, just weeks after the nation proclaimed its independence from 400 years of Portuguese rule.

Although the invasion and later annexation of East Timor by Indonesia has never been recognized by the United Nations, Belo is fighting for the international community to guarantee East Timorese the opportunity to determine their own government.”Try to know the plight of the East Timorese people, the Catholics, then accompany and answer the concerns about the problem,”he told U.S. officials.

Belo is looking for financial assistance as well as political support.

He used half of the $1 million Nobel Peace Prize to fund a new seminary in East Timor, but said the project is badly in need of additional funding.

Belo also said the occupation of East Timor, which is more than 90 percent Catholic, by Indonesian Muslims has resulted in serious issues of religious intolerance and what he called”psychological pressure.” As an example, Belo said when parishioners were building a statue of the Virgin Mary on a mountain in East Timor, Indonesian soldiers repeatedly denigrated the project, calling it”stones and wood”in an attempt to make the Catholics feel primitive and ineffective.

But he said his faith sustains him in the seemingly endless fight for self-determination.”Faith, prayer, is the main secret,”he said.

Belo said he tries to pass that message on to the youth in his country, and he spoke passionately of the pastoral celebrations, church retreats, Bible study courses and prayer meetings he relies on to remind East Timorese youth that prayer _ not violence _ will see them through the crisis of Indonesian occupation.”We always have hope. History is changing. It’s not permanent,”he tells young East Timorese.

Several members of Congress, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. Robert A. Borski, D-Pa., attended the Mass with Belo to show support for East Timorese independence.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said he attended the Mass to reiterate his support of Belo’s cause, with which he has been actively involved since 1976.”There’s one thing we learn from Scripture, that sometimes you’re judged not so much on what you do for the big and the powerful, but what you do for the least,”Harkin said in an interview.”And East Timor is that.” Belo agreed East Timor does not get enough international attention, saying he believed Americans regard his country as an”island lost in the Pacific Ocean, nobody goes there while preoccupied with Kuwait and other countries.” But since winning the Nobel Peace Prize with exiled activist Ramos-Horta, the issue has won increased international attention _ a double-edged sword, he said, considering that scores of East Timorese youth have been arrested by Indonesian authorities for vocally supporting him.

Belo’s cause has won the support of both Roman Catholic and Protestant groups in the United States.

Both the National Council of Churches (NCC) and the U.S. Catholic Conference have been active in lobbying the Clinton administration to end military aid to Indonesia and to grant East Timor self-determination.

On Monday (June 16), for example, the Asia Pacific Center for Justice and Peace, a coalition of religious and secular groups including the United Methodist Church, the Bread for the World Institute, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Jesuit International Ministries, and the Mennonite Central Committee, announced it had petitioned the U.N. Decolinization Committee to support self-determination for East Timor.

The NCC said it plans to send a high-level delegation to East Timor this August to investigate the situation.”We are called to build a strong and deeply rooted nonviolent movement within the United States supporting East Timor’s right to self-determination,”said organizers John Chamberlin and Kenneth Butigan of East Timor Religious Outreach in a statement detailing the NCC visit.

Belo agreed that self-determination is the top priority for the East Timorese. “My only (cause) is that they should have those opportunities (to decide their own manner of government),”he said.

MJP END LEBOWITZ