Bishop Belo to launch books

JAKARTA (JP): Dili Bishop and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo will launch two books in East Timor's capital Dili next Tuesday, Antara reported yesterday.

The news agency quoted Belo as saying that the books, Demi Keadilan dan Perdamaian (For Justice and Peace) and Suara Kaum Tak Bersuara (The Voice of the Silent), are published by Gramedia and will be sold at Gramedia and Santo Paulus bookstores.

The first book is an assortment of Belo's thoughts, opinions and vision poured into letters, speeches, and seminar papers he has written.

His second book is a compilation of his published interviews with the media between 1983 and 1995, or since he was inaugurated by Pope John Paul II as the Bishop of Dili.

Each book's print run is only 2,500. They will initially be sold only in East Timor.

Belo said the theme of the first book was a reminder to all Indonesian Catholics to always live peacefully and in harmony with their neighbors.

"Aren't justice and peace what everybody has been looking for?" he was quoted as saying by Antara.

Belo said the second book was about the struggle to improve the fate of the poor and the neglected.

"The most important thing for poor people is that they get out of their situation," he said.

In conclusion, he said his books conveyed the conscience of a religious leader.

"Those ideals are not far from our state ideology of Pancasila," he added. "Religious communities should always adhere to Pancasila in the context of their faiths."

The books being launched "are the contextual answers to living under Pancasila," he said.

A Gramedia spokesman said the launch would be attended by the newly ordained Bishop of Baucau Mgr. Basilio do Nascimento, as well as local officials and military officers, intellectuals and students.

Belo and self-exiled East Timor separatist spokesman Jose Ramos Horta jointly accepted the Nobel Peace Prize last December. In his acceptance speech, Belo called for the release of East Timorese political prisoners, saying it would help create an important opening on the road to peace.

Bishop Belo holds an Indonesian passport, making him the first Indonesian to receive the prestigious award. (aan/swe)