E. Timor is Indonesia's 27th province: Vatican

E. Timor is Indonesia's 27th province: Vatican

LISBON (AFP): A Vatican memo referring to East Timor as the "27th Indonesian province" has ignited fierce controversy in Lisbon, where the papal nuncio has been summoned to the foreign ministry, diplomats said yesterday.

The Vatican press service note was issued Dec. 18 to announce the ordination of a second Catholic bishop for the former Portuguese colony, Monsignor Basilio do Nascimento.

It states the "former Portuguese colony was integrated into the Republic of Indonesia on July 17, 1976, thus becoming the 27th province of Indonesia," contradicting the Vatican's previous legal and political stance.

According to the independent Portuguese newspaper Publico, the statement has stunned the foreign ministry, which summoned the papal nuncio -- the Vatican's diplomatic envoy to Lisbon -- last Friday for an explanation.

The envoy, Edoardo Rovida, reportedly told the ministry that the Vatican note had "no official value," and stated that the two East Timor dioceses would remain directly attached to the Holy See "as long as no solution has been found to the East Timor problem."

Portugal is reportedly considering the matter closed following this explanation. However, Publico said that Portuguese diplomats considered the Vatican note more than a simple error, and instead "a clever maneuver by the Vatican to move closer to Jakarta."

Until the appointment of Do Nascimento, East Timor had only one bishop, 1996 Nobel peace prize laureate Monsignor Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, bishop of the capital Dili.

Dili remains the principal East Timor diocese, with 500,000 Catholics, while the Baucau diocese, created late last month by the Vatican, counts 200,000.

Dialog -- Page 2