25,000 watch Bishop Belo bless giant statue of Christ

DILI, East Timor (JP): About 25,000 Catholics thronged the Fatucama peninsula, seven kilometers east of Dili, to watch the blessing of a giant statue, Christ the King, yesterday.

The blessing, led by Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, began at 3:30 p.m. local time. It proceeded without incident.

"Now the statue has become a sacred place for people to come to pray and meditate," Belo said during his sermon.

The bishop made no political references in his sermon, and the ceremony proceeded in an atmosphere which some described as "deeply religious".

Belo has been in hot water in the last few weeks for his alleged remarks in the German Der Spiegel magazine. The bishop was quoted in the magazine's Oct. 14 edition as saying that Armed Forces (ABRI) soldiers had treated East Timorese people like "scabby dogs" and "slaves".

The bishop, who shared this year's Nobel Peace Prize with East Timorese separatist Ramos Horta, has promised to issue a public explanation today on whether he actually made those remarks in his interview with the magazine's journalist Jurgen Kremb.

But Belo was quoted by Antara earlier last week as saying he had never made any anti-Armed Forces remarks, and that when he said "soldiers," he was referring to unscrupulous individuals within the Armed Forces. He is also reported to have said Der Spiegel "distorted" his remarks and that he never used the words "scabby dogs".

Kremb, who is based in Beijing, reportedly met Juwana, the Indonesian ambassador to China, on Friday. But Kremb would not reveal anything on their discussion.

"The ambassador and I agreed not to disclose the content of our talk," Kremb said.

Yesterday, after blessing the 27-meter-high statue on top of Fatucama hill overlooking Dili Bay, Belo led a mass at the base of the hill. He was assisted by 12 priests from East Timor and other Indonesian provinces.

The Catholic onlookers, many from West Timor, had crowded the site of the ceremony four hours before it began.

Others at the ceremony and mass included East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares and Maj. Gen. Abdul Rivai, the chief of the Udayana Regional Military Command, which oversees the islands of Bali and Nusa Tenggara, including East Timor.

Dozens of local and foreign journalists followed the ceremony which passed without incident.

There were no police or soldiers to be seen in the area, and the security was handled by hundreds of East Timorese Catholic youth group members wearing blue shirts.

But local police reportedly had about 600 personnel on hand to safeguard the ceremony. They mingled with members of the Catholic youth groups to maintain security at the ceremony.

On security preparations, Chief of the East Timor Military Headquarters Col. Mahidin Simbolon said last week there would be no special security treatment for the ceremony.

He agreed with Belo's call for no more demonstrations in Dili.

The multi-million-dollar 25-ton bronze statue, representing Christ standing with open arms above a globe, has been at the center of controversy since the project began in 1994.

Opposition to the statue's construction was once so strong that Belo had threatened not to attend its inauguration by President Soeharto on the grounds that the statue was "full of political overtones" and had been built without consulting the local Catholic community.

But he attended a ceremony for the statue with President Soeharto on Oct. 15 in front of the governor's office. Soeharto invited Belo to fly over the statue in his helicopter.

The Rp 40 billion (US$17 million) statue is said to be the second highest statue of Christ in the world after the famed statue above Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The 27-meter height represents East Timor as the country's 27th province.

The local government, with sponsorship from flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, domestic carrier Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Garuda's PT Aerowisata hotel chain and other companies, paid for the statue.

Christian civil servants in East Timor have had Rp 500 (US 21 cents) deducted from their salaries each month since March to help pay for the statue. (33/imn)