In deeply Catholic Timor-Leste, high-profile clergymen involved in child sex abuse scandals are supported by some of the country’s most powerful politicians while victims who come forward are labelled as 'church haters'.
SBS On Demand Nobel Prize winner Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo was once the most powerful figure of the Roman Catholic church in Timor-Leste. But in 2022, a Dutch newspaper report accused Belo of multiple rapes and sexual assaults on young boys dating back to the time he was a priest in the early 1980s.
Victims who come forward are often labelled as church haters and face being ostracised from their community. Belo is far from the only priest in the country to have child sexual abuse allegations levelled at them. It’s alleged that around a dozen other priests are accused of sexual abuse in Timor-Leste. But prosecutions are rare.
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