Carlos Ximenes Belo
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The Most Reverend Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo |
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| See | Lorium (Titular See) |
| Appointed | 21 March 1988 |
| Predecessor | Ennio Appignanesi |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 26 July 1980 |
| Consecration | 19 June 1988 by Archbishop Francesco Canalini |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
3 February 1948 Baucau, Portuguese Timor |
| Nationality | East Timorese |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Parents |
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| Signature |  |
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Styles of Carlos Ximenes Belo |
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.svg) |
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| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo SDB, GCL (born 3 February 1948) is an East Timorese Roman Catholic bishop. Along with José Ramos-Horta, he received the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for work "towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor."
The fifth child of Domingos Vaz Filipe and Ermelinda Baptista Filipe, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo was born in the village of Wailakama, near Vemasse, on the north coast of East Timor. His father, a schoolteacher, died two years later. His childhood years were spent in Catholic schools at Baucau and Ossu, before he proceeded to the Dare minor seminary outside Dili, from which he graduated in 1968. From 1969 until 1981, apart from periods of practical training (1974–1976) in East Timor and in Macau, he was in Portugal and Rome where, having become a member of the Salesian Society, he studied philosophy and theology before being ordained a priest in 1980.
Returning to East Timor in July 1981 he became a teacher for 20 months, then director for two months, at the Salesian College at Fatumaca.
On the resignation of Martinho da Costa Lopes in 1983, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Dili diocese, becoming head of the East Timor church and directly responsible to the Pope. On 6 February 1989, he was consecrated titular Bishop of Lorium.
Father Belo was the choice of the Vatican's Pro Nuncio in Jakarta and the Indonesian leaders because of his supposed submissiveness, but he was not the choice of the Timorese priests who did not attend his inauguration. However within only five months of his assuming office, he protested vehemently, in a sermon in the cathedral, against the brutalities of the Kraras massacre (1983) and condemned the many Indonesian arrests. The church was the only institution capable of communicating with the outside world, so with this in mind the new Apostolic Administrator started writing letters and building up overseas contacts, in spite of the isolation arising from the opposition of the Indonesians and the disinterest of most of the world.
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