US embassy cable - 05VATICAN473

C O N F I D E N T I A L  VATICAN 000473 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (LEVIN), EAP/IET (SHETH) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  5/2/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KPKO, VT 
SUBJECT: HOLY SEE PRESSES DIALOGUE; EAST TIMORESE JESUIT CRITICAL OF 
TIMOR PROTESTS 
 
REF: A. A.) VATICAN 00471, 
     B. B.) DILI 00218 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: D. Brent Hardt, Charge D'Affaires, EXEC, STATE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) The Holy See's Deputy Foreign Minister told Charge May 2 
that the situation in East Timor was a source of great concern, 
and that they were encouraging the bishops and Nuncio to pursue 
dialogue with the government to resolve the situation.  He and 
an East Timorese Jesuit, Joao Piedade, concurred that the 
demanding tone of the pastoral letter issued by East Timor's 
bishops combined with the government's failure to establish a 
commission to address the education issue had sparked the 
Church's current conflict with the government [reftels].  For 
the time being, the Holy See is leaving the situation in the 
hands of its Nuncio, though Piedade was critical of the Nuncio's 
engagement to date.  Piedade suggested that a Vatican-sanctioned 
mediator could be appointed in the coming days, but the Vatican 
FM said such a step would be taken only "if necessary."  End 
Summary. 
 
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Vatican:  Dialogue "Only Way" 
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2.  (C) Holy See Deputy FM equivalent Monsignor Pietro Parolin 
said the unrest in East Timor was a cause of concern for the 
Holy See especially in light of the past.  He expressed the Holy 
See's regret with the method the local bishops had chosen to 
present their concerns to the government.  "Requesting the 
resignation of a democratically elected prime minister is not 
the right role for the Church, Parolin stated.  Such tactics, he 
added, can only generate division within the society and among 
the clergy.  Instead, the situation should have been dealt with 
through dialogue, he believed, and the Holy See was working 
through its Nuncio to encourage such a dialogue.  He understood 
that the President and Prime Minister had been in touch with the 
bishops and, though they had not offered anything concrete on 
the education issue, Parolin thought this was an encouraging 
step. 
 
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Pastoral Letter Leads to Insults 
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3. (C) For another perspective, Poloff met with Jesuit Father 
and lecturer a Rome's Gregorian University Joao Piedade, who 
told Poloff March 2 that the local bishops were responsible for 
instigating the current Church-government conflict in East Timor 
with their strident pastoral letter to East Timorese Catholics 
on the government's plans to eliminate compulsory religious 
education from the nation's primary and secondary school 
curricula.  According to Father Piedade, the pastoral letter was 
"arrogant and confrontational."  He also had no patience for 
Church complaints that the government had not responded to the 
letter.  "A pastoral letter is not an official document, he 
said.  "It was not addressed to the government.  Why should they 
have to respond to it?" 
 
4. (C) Piedade argued that the East Timorese Church has to 
become accustomed to the autonomy of both church and state. 
"There cannot be a dictatorship of the church.  Religious 
education cannot be compulsory -- it must be by choice," he 
said.  Piedade also argued that elements within the church are 
manipulating the uneducated faithful.  "It is unacceptable for 
the church to exploit the people's religiosity for political 
motivations," he said.  Piedade added that the clergy in East 
Timor is already divided.   A solid base supports Bishop da 
Silva, but many feel that the church should stay out of 
politics, a sentiment Piedade traced to the influence of Pope 
John Paul II.  "The calling of the faithful to political 
demonstrations is unacceptable," the Jesuit concluded. 
 
5. (C) Piedade was extremely critical of Bishops Ricardo da 
Silva and Nascimento, noting that he was ashamed and embarrassed 
that they had stooped to insulting Prime Minister Alkatiri. 
"Alkatiri is the scapegoat in part because he is Muslim," 
Piedade said, "but in reality he is quite secular-minded."  The 
Jesuit added that Alkatiri had been "peaceful and reasonable in 
the face of shameful insults," but that the Church could not 
expect "to push the government any further." 
 
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Apostolic Nuncio Unhelpful 
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6. (C) Piedade believed that Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican 
ambassador) Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don had been 
counterproductive and undiplomatic during his March visit to 
Dili.  "The nuncio used his visit as an opportunity to criticize 
and denounce the government," Piedade said.  He claimed that 
officials at the Vatican Foreign Ministry concurred that this 
was not the ideal way to handle Church-State relations. 
Nevertheless, the Vatican's FM left little doubt that for the 
time being, they were leaving the situation in the hands of the 
Nuncio to convey their preference for dialogue to the Bishops. 
 
7. (C) Piedade told us he had met with Vatican Deputy Foreign 
Minister Pietro Parolin March 30 to discuss the crisis, though 
Parolin himself did not directly confirm the meeting.  He said 
that Parolin, who had managed the East Timor account during the 
crisis that led to independence, rejected the bishops' 
accusations that the Fretilin government was simply opposed to 
religion due to a Marxist ideology.  "The majority of the 
government ministers were educated by the Jesuits, so how could 
they all be Communists?" he asked.  Piedade claimed that neither 
the Nuncio nor the local bishops were neutral observers; but his 
suggestion that that Vatican has lost confidence in  both as 
interlocutors was not borne out by Parolin's determination to 
work through the Nuncio and encourage the bishops.  Piedade told 
us he has also been contacted by East Timorese Foreign Minister 
Ramos Horta to research an appropriate Concordat with the 
Vatican that would guarantee East Timor's religious cultural 
identity, while providing the conditions to allow people to 
choose their religion freely. 
 
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Father Filomeno Pulling the Strings? 
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8. (C) Piedade said he had suspicions that the real intellectual 
power behind the protests is fellow Jesuit Father Filomeno 
Jacob, not Bishop da Silva, whom he described as a "pious man." 
In 2000, former Bishop of Dili Carlos Belo authorized Filomeno 
to serve as Social Affairs Minister in the transitional 
government.  Some time later the government released him, and he 
returned to work for Belo, eventually becoming Secretary to 
Belo's successor, Bishop da Silva.  Piedade believes that 
Filomeno is bitter, and, blaming the government for his ouster, 
sees this as an opportunity to reassert his power by 
manipulating Bishop da Silva behind the scenes.  Parolin also 
indicated that he believed Father Jacob had been a bad influence 
on the bishop. 
 
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Comment 
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9. (C) The Holy See is clearly concerned that the situation in 
Dili could get out of control, but they are encouraged by the 
President's and Prime Minister's efforts to reach out to the 
bishops and are encouraging the bishops to reciprocate. 
Piedade, by contrast, fears that if the bishops push the 
government too far, the confrontation could end in violence, 
irrevocably damaging the credibility of the Church.  For the 
time being, the Vatican has no intention of sending in an 
outside mediator, but would do so if the situation deteriorated 
and the nuncio proved ineffective.  According to Piedade, the 
problem in East Timor is not just religion in education, but 
education of the Religious. "Priests need to gain greater 
knowledge of democracies," Piedade observed. "This is a medieval 
mentality." 
 
HARDT 
 
 
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 2005VATICA00473 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL