austraLasia
1548
"We are proud of
you" says ITM Superior
DILI 3rd May
2006 -- As the situation in East Timor's capital, Dili, began to return to
normal after the May 1st national holiday, the Superior of the vice province, Fr
Calleja, celebrated Mass for the boarders at the Centec Don Bosco Centre in
Comoro, syaing "We are proud of you, serving thousands of refugees, collecting
garbage, giving a hand day and night without respite". There are still
families - yesterday as many as a thousand people - who linger at the compound,
unsure of what awaits them out there in 'normal' Dili. For a few there is
no home left to return to. It was estimated that at one stage during the
disturbance the number of people in the compound reached around
10,000.
The Dili Diocese issued two communiqués during the
events, one establishing clearly that the Church is not involved in 'party'
politics, but rather has the task of forming consciences for the common good,
and the other stating clearly that the Church is against violence (this was
issued after the burning down of the market) and wants to foster dialogue.
The communiqué appealed to young people not to choose a violent solution, and to
the Government for a just solution for the 595 sacked soldiers whose
circumstances sparked the events, though other elements largely fuelled the
fires, both literally and metaphorically.
The Government
has promised to set up a commission to study a just solution to the soldiers'
complaints. This commission will have Church representatives in it as well
as politicians and other citizens. Meanwhile newspapers and the rumour
mill in Dili point a finger at a Government minister with a shady past in
diamond dealing and smuggling in Angola, and who heads a prostitution racket in
Dili itself - in the popular mind he represents a cause for the recent
problems. More astute observers believe there are much wider forces at
work. The Government, at least in terms of its leadership, has strong
Marxist leanings; the island is now as it was many years before, split along
ethnic lines (Loromonu from the west and Lorosae from the east). For some
elements, an unstable situation suits their purposes - there is a Fretilin
Congress in May and national elections to follow.
In the
midst of all this, an Extraordinary Visitation was brought to a close!
Understandably, much discussion focused on the importance of formation at all
levels.
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