Cardinal urges govt to win Timorese trust

Cardinal urges govt to win Timorese trust

JAKARTA (JP): The head of the Roman Catholic Church in
Indonesia called yesterday for greater effort on behalf of the
government to win the trust and confidence of the East Timorese
people.

Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, the chairman of the Indonesian
Bishop's Conference (KWI), asserted the need to eliminate the
prevailing suspicions East Timorese people still harbor.

"The question is how to ensure the East Timorese are not
easily suspicious of us and how to erase that suspicion,"
Cardinal Darmaatmadja told reporters after he and other leaders
of the conference met President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.

The President is concerned about the situation in East Timor
because the problem would harm everyone, including the Roman
Catholic Church, the Cardinal said.

Indonesia's youngest province was shaken by a wave of ethnic
and religious violence this month. The predominantly Catholic
East Timorese were pitted against migrant traders and non-
Catholics.

Although there were no reports of loss of life, several people
were injured in the melee which including the torching of a city
market.

Cardinal Darmaatmadja said the President recognized that the
problem in East Timor was not just caused by ethnic bitterness.

"The problem is also the fact that there was a civil service
recruitment (in East Timor) in which many applicants failed to
gain entry. This also created social unrest," he said.

Cardinal Darmaatmadja and his delegation briefed the President
about the upcoming cardinals' conference on Oct. 28 to Nov. 2.
They requested the President receive the participants.

Speaking of Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Cardinal
Darmaatmadja said KWI often held regular and amicable meetings
with him.

Bishop Belo, unlike the other bishops in Indonesia, does not
answer to the authority of KWI but directly to the Vatican
because the Holy See does not recognize Indonesia's rule over
East Timor.

Frans Seda, a prominent Catholic who was present at the
meeting yesterday, said that President Soeharto holds Belo in
high regard. "Pak Harto has a very positive outlook of Belo,"
said Seda who is a former minister of finance.

Meanwhile in East Timor, Fretilin separatist rebels on Monday
took potshots at a passing motorcycle convoy on a tour of the
province, witnesses said yesterday.

The shots were heard after the motorcade, which included East
Timor Governor Jose Abilio Osorio Soares, passed the edge of the
forest in the Illomar and Uato Carbau districts in Viqueque
regency.

There were no reported casualties from the gunfire.

Over 165 motorcycles are taking part in a five-day tour
covering 1,322 kilometers.(mds/yac)

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