Beschreibung
The author examines responses within the international Catholic community to
the annexation and rule of East Timor by Indonesia from 1975 – 1999.
Theoretically the Catholic Church is committed to prioritise the needs of
the poorest and weakest members of the human family but the evidence put
forward here reveals that there were significant shortcomings in its
reaction to the plight of the East Timorese. Yet the Church also played a
crucial role in their eventual achievement of independent nationhood. This
study scrutinises the disposition of the Catholic community in several
countries closely involved in the issue of East Timor – Indonesia,
Portugal, Australia, Japan, Britain, the United States – and of the
Vatican, and calls upon the Church to live up to its own social doctrine.
Bishop Carlos Belo, Apostolic Administrator (emeritus) of the Diocese of
Dili, East Timor, comments in an ‘Afterword’ to the book: ‘This excellent
study carries concrete lessons for the global community as we face the
many challenges of the new millennium. In essence, how can we best help
our brothers and sisters who often suffer in silence? This book helps to
answer that question’.
