Church meet will not touch E. Timor

JAKARTA (JP): The leaders of the Catholic Church will not discuss the dissociated diocese of East Timor during their six- day National Assembly.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, said in a press conference here yesterday that the assembly, which starts today, may touch on the issue, but only in passing.

"If we're going to talk about East Timor, we'll do it briefly," the cardinal, who is also chairman of the Indonesian Bishop's Conference, said.

The diocese of East Timor, under the leadership of Bishop Felipe Ximenes Belo, is not under the Indonesian Bishop's Conference; instead, it is accountable directly to Rome. Following religious tension in the province recently, some parties have demanded that Belo join the conference as a way to reduce friction.

Belo has said he would not be able to attend the congress because he had to go to the Vatican. He sent one of his representatives in his place.

Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja said more than 400 Catholic leaders and representatives of organizations are participating in the congress.

The gathering will be followed by the bishops' annual meeting until Nov. 10.

There are about 5.7 million Catholics in Indonesia; more than 700,000 of them are in East Timor.

"The problem in East Timor is becoming a national concern, it's not caused by friction among ethnic groups only," the cardinal said.

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

Bishop Martinus D. Situmorang said yesterday that although Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher will not attend the gathering, as he is now in the Vatican, several other cabinet ministers have promised to address the assembly.

Tarmizi departed for the Vatican on Thursday to appeal for help from Catholics leader in finding resolutions to the religious tension in East Timor. (31)