| Subject: AFP: Catholic E Timor hails
appointment of "accessible, charming" pope
Agence France Presse -- English
April 20, 2005 Wednesday 7:20 AM GMT
Catholic East Timor hails appointment of "accessible,
charming" pope
JAKARTA April 20
East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta on Wednesday welcomed the
appointment of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new pope, describing him
as a very "accessible and charming" new pontiff.
"Obviously the new pope is viewed as theologically very
conservative, particularly in views of family planning issues and
abortion, but this debate within the Catholic community will go on,"
Ramos-Horta told reporters on the sidelines of an Asian-African
ministerial meeting in Jakarta.
"At the same time my feeling is the new pope seems to be a very
accessible, very charming pope with knowledge of languages and a keen
understanding of many cultures. I believe he will continue the work of
John Paul II," he said.
The late John Paul II was widely revered in East Timor, where 90
percent of the population are Catholic.
He was a rare foreign visitor in the late 1980s, during the country's
three-decade occupation by Muslim-majority Indonesia.
Independence activists used the spotlight on his 1989 visit to
publicise their cause, storming a podium during one of his appearances and
unfurling a banner objecting to Indonesia's occupation.
The East Timorese won full autonomy in 2002, three years after voting
overwhelmingly to split from Indonesia.
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