New East Timorese president pledges to work closely with church

Published: 2007-05-23

DILI, East Timor (CNS) -- Jose Ramos-Horta, the new president of East Timor, pledged to work closely with the Catholic Church. Dressed in a customary black suit, rather than the Jesus T-shirt he wore during his campaign, Ramos-Horta said at his May 20 inauguration: "As we all know, the Catholic Church has been with the people of this country for centuries. It stands for human education and has been a part of our culture." Ramos-Horta stressed that many times during his campaign he told the people, "I have three leaders: our pope in Rome and our two bishops." His remarks, reported by UCA News, an Asian church news agency, referred to Bishops Basilio do Nascimento of Baucau and Alberto da Silva of Dili. The 57-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate won more than 70 percent of the votes in the May 9 presidential race as an independent against Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres of the Fretilin party. Fretilin is the political wing of the guerrilla movement that fought Indonesian occupation before East Timor won independence in 2002.

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