Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo

Who is Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo?

Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo was born on 3 February 1948 in Wailacama, Portuguese Timor, into a farming family, and was educated in Catholic schools before joining the Salesians of Don Bosco religious order and being ordained a priest in 1980. In 1983 he was appointed apostolic administrator of the Catholic Church in East Timor, and in 1988 he was consecrated bishop of Dili. As leader of the church in an overwhelmingly Catholic territory under Indonesian military occupation, he became one of the most prominent voices for the Timorese people, publicly denouncing human rights abuses despite facing at least two assassination attempts. After a 1991 massacre of demonstrators in Dili, his advocacy contributed to the dismissal of senior military officers, and in a 1994 open letter he called on Indonesia to reduce its military presence and allow East Timor a referendum on self-determination. In 1996 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with José Ramos-Horta. He resigned as bishop in November 2002, citing poor health, having spent nearly two decades as one of the territory's most consequential religious and moral leaders.

Sources: NobelPrize.org, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo — Facts (1996) · Britannica, "Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo" · Wikipedia, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo