| Subject: LUSA: PM Alkatiri welcomes new
pope, wants dialogue with local church
20-04-2005 17:16:00. Fonte LUSA. Notícia SIR-6933664 Temas:
East Timor: PM Alkatiri welcomes new pope, wants dialogue with local
church
Dili, April 20 (Lusa) - Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, locked in a power
struggle with East Timor's influential Catholic Church, Wednesday welcomed
the election of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope, saying he hoped
the new pontiff would help "strengthen relations" between Dili
and the Vatican.
"I+m certain, as prime minister, that Pope Benedict XVI will
continue the work of Pope John Paul II, giving them his own touch",
Alkatiri said in a statement.
Turning to the deepening rift between his government and the Timorese
church, Alkatiri said the country was facing "a complicated,
difficult moment".
"But I believe that good sense will win out and that a solution
for this divergence of opinions will be resolved through dialogue",
he added.
Hundreds of Catholic demonstrators have camped outside Dili's
government headquarters since Tuesday to press for changes in government
policy, namely plans under way to demote religion classes in public
schools to an optional subject.
EL/SAS.
Lusa
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