DILI (TIMOR-LESTE)
BishopAccountability.org [Waltham MA]
September 6, 2024
News release, September 6, 2024
Watchdog group pushes for Pope to help clergy sex abuse victims in East Timor
BishopAccountability.org begs Cardinal O’Malley to intervene
The group urges pontiff: ‘Say the abusers’ names’
Francis must exhort the Timorese to stop supporting the abusers, they say
“East Timor’s victims surely feel afraid and alone,” they say
A US-based watchdog group that documents the Catholic church’s abuse crisis is pressing a top church official with close ties to Pope Francis to urge the pontiff to advocate forcefully for clergy sex abuse victims when he visits East Timor beginning Monday.
In a letter emailed late Thursday night Eastern time [see full text below], the group asked Cardinal Sean O’Malley, in his capacity as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, to “intervene on behalf of the forsaken Timorese victims.”
“Urge the Pope to be the victims’ champion,” wrote BishopAccountability.org to Cardinal O’Malley. “Advise him to speak fiercely during his visit on their behalf. Help him understand how alone and frightened they must feel.”
Recent years have seen revelations in East Timor of child rape and other sexual assaults by a prominent bishop and an American missionary. The guilt of both men has been confirmed: both have been sanctioned by the church, and the missionary is serving a criminal sentence in a Timorese prison.
Yet Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo and ex-priest Richard Daschbach are still widely admired and praised in East Timor for supporting the people during the violent Indonesian occupation.
The continued popularity of the two sex offenders, with even the country’s president and prime minister expressing their support, has created a climate in which clergy sex abuse victims are too intimidated to come forward, contends Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org.
“An untold number of child sex abuse victims in East Timor are likely afraid to report their suffering, as they watch powerful predators bask in public affirmation despite the serious abuse allegations against them,” Barrett Doyle said.
“It is a grim situation for victims, but Pope Francis could change it,” she said. “He is revered in East Timor. If he explicitly condemns Belo and Daschbach, and praises the bravery of their victims, his words could have an enormous positive impact.”
But the Pope’s message to the Timorese must be stronger and more pointed than his standard laments about the evil of abuse, Barrett Doyle said. In the letter to O’Malley, she wrote:
“To disrupt the people’s attachment to Daschbach and Belo, the Pope must denounce the two men by name … A generic statement that omits the perpetrators’ names will be easily ignored or misinterpreted.”
BishopAccountability.org has tracked allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct against 159 bishops worldwide. Barrett Doyle observes:
“In any case of an abusive bishop, there is inevitably a power differential between the bishop and his victim. Bishops are powerful, and in developing countries where the Church is dominant, they are inordinately powerful. But no case we’ve studied exhibits as extreme a power differential as that which exists between Bishop Belo and his victims in East Timor. When a child is raped in a devoutly Catholic country, and the predator is both a bishop and national hero, survivors will feel especially helpless and intimidated into staying silent.”
The full text of the BishopAccountability.org’s letter to O’Malley is pasted below.
About BishopAccountability.org
Founded in 2003, BishopAccountability.org is based in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA, and documents the crisis of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. It offers a vast online collection of church records, legal documents, and media reports. Its mission is to give the public convenient access to information pertaining to the abuse crisis in the U.S. and worldwide. An independent non-profit, BishopAccountability.org is an archive and a data center that promotes transparency and accountability. It is not a victims’ advocacy group, and it does not weigh in on the cultural divide within the Catholic Church.
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BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF LETTER EMAILED TO CARDINAL SEAN O’MALLEY, AND COPIED TO THE BOSTON ARCHDIOCESE’S TERRENCE DONILON AND REV. ROBERT KICKHAM, ON THURSDAY 9/5/2024 AT 11:09PM BOSTON TIME.
Subject: Urgent Letter from BishopAccountability.org regarding the Pope’s visit to East Timor
Dear Cardinal O’Malley,
When Pope Francis arrives in East Timor on Monday, he’ll be faced with a decision: whether to address that country’s embrace of two perpetrators of child sexual abuse, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo and former missionary priest Richard Daschbach.
You surely are aware of these cases. You must feel concern, as we do, for the victims who reported Belo and Daschbach. You must share our concern too for the countless other clergy sex abuse victims in East Timor who remain silent out of fear, as they watch confirmed predators basking in public support and affirmation.
The situation of clergy sex abuse victims in East Timor is bleak – yet Pope Francis could remedy and transform it with a few powerful words.
We are writing to ask you to help make this happen. Please intervene on behalf of the forsaken Timorese victims – both those who’ve come forward and those still hidden. Urge the Pope to be their champion. Advise him to speak fiercely during his visit on their behalf. Help him understand how alone and frightened they must feel.
As head of the PCPM, your words matter. The Pope credits the commission’s intercession with his decision to re-open the canonical case against former Jesuit priest Marko Rupnik. And in 2018, after he accused victims in Chile of spreading scandal, he reversed himself after you spoke up in their defense.
The plight of clergy sex abuse victims in East Timor is especially terrible. The Timorese revere the Catholic Church, and Belo and Daschbach specifically, for standing with the people during the violent Indonesian occupation. Many consider the survivors who reported the two men to be liars and traitors.
It doesn’t seem to matter that the guilt of both men has been established. The Vatican acknowledged sanctioning Belo, and the attaché of the papal nunciature confirmed his guilt on national TV. Daschbach, who assaulted countless little girls at the orphanage he ran, has been laicized by the church and convicted by the Timorese criminal justice system. But many of the Timorese, with their memories of Indonesian brutality still fresh, reportedly either reject the allegations as false or believe the men’s sex crimes are unimportant compared to their assistance to the Timorese during the years of struggle.
The abusers’ supporters include the country’s most powerful officials. East Timor’s president, José Ramos-Horta, has publicly praised his friend Belo, saying that he would welcome him back to the country any time. He told AP that he hopes the Pope does not mention Belo’s crimes because “that would be like trying someone twice.” The prime minister, Xanana Gusmão, visits Daschbach in prison and says publicly that he intends to win the former priest’s early release.
Even worse, according to one news report, some Timorese are trying to determine the identities of the victims, in order to retaliate.
“Basically, to accuse Belo is to betray the country. So the victims are afraid of being denounced, losing their jobs, having their houses burned down or being killed,” an unnamed senior church official was quoted as saying.
As grave as this situation is, the Pope could turn it around. He too is revered by the Timorese people. But his standard bromides about the evil of abuse won’t be enough. To disrupt the people’s attachment to Daschbach and Belo, the Pope must denounce the two men by name and praise the courage of their victims. A generic statement that omits the perpetrators’ names will be easily ignored or misinterpreted.
You could urge Pope Francis to meet with the victims of Belo and Daschbach. Papal meetings with survivors are often little more than public relations, but this one could do great good. It could send a message to the people that the Pope believes the victims’ claims, and it would let the victims know that they are not alone.
You could suggest to Pope Francis that he exhort the Timorese to stop honoring these men. When he meets with President Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Gusmão, he must press them too to stop advocating for the abusers. The Pope must insist that victims be protected and treated with compassion and respect.
Thank you for your consideration, Cardinal. Your public statements of support for victims have been helpful. We earnestly hope you will use your influence to make a difference in East Timor. Your intervention possibly has never been more needed.
Sincerely,
Anne Barrett Doyle, Co-Director
BishopAccountability.org