ABRI and Belo<\/p>\n
From Kompas<\/p>\n
I was delighted to read the Vatican Embassy's response to the
\nKompas article concerning the appointment of Bishop Belo as
\nbishop of East Timor. I hope that this issue will not invite a
\nprolonged polemic next time.<\/p>\n
It seems that the Vatican Embassy's Secretariat misunderstood
\nthe article.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces (ABRI) understood quite well that it is the
\nVatican's absolute right to appoint a bishop in a certain region.
\nBut the Indonesian people at that time thought there was nothing
\nwrong if the Vatican's representative also listened to what
\nIndonesia and the people had to say. Moreover, in 1975-1976, the
\nsituation in East Timor was critical. ABRI was deeply concerned
\nover the way Marxist Fretilin treated the churches.<\/p>\n
In 1976, I was assigned to accompany Bishop Ribero when he
\ntraveled to Jakarta to meet the Vatican's ambassador for
\nconsultations. According to the Armed Forces, it was not wrong to
\npropose, through the Indonesian government, that Bishop Ribero's
\nreplacement should hail from East Timor.<\/p>\n
If the proposal was deemed to be violating the Vatican's
\nsovereignty, Indonesia should then be warned and asked to
\napologize. But as far as I was concerned, Indonesia had done
\nnothing wrong in that case because at that time, Portuguese East
\nTimor was \"in a state of emergency,\" during which Fretilin killed
\nleaders and followers of the Apodeti and UDT parties who failed
\nto escape into Indonesian territory.<\/p>\n
ABRI had nothing to contend when Bishop Belo emerged in the
\n1980s, as it was Vatican's power to arrange the matter. However,
\nlater we felt rather uneasy, because of the fact that Indonesia
\nhad no role whatsoever to play in choosing a leader of a
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n
SOEBIJAKTO PRAWIRASOEBRATA<\/p>\n
Head of Executive Board<\/p>\n
of National Institution<\/p>\n
of Strategic Studies<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/abri-and-belo-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }