Mission & Justice

Mark Forbes; 15/7/08

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will reject a recommendation he apologise for Indonesia instigating gross human rights abuses during East Timor’s 1999 independence vote, instead expressing regret, according to his Defence Minister, Juwono Sudarsono. In Bali today Dr Yudhoyono and his East Timorese counterpart, Jose Ramos-Horta, will jointly accept the report of the Commission of Truth and Friendship into the atrocities. The report, leaked to The Age last week, blames Indonesia for a co-ordinated campaign of violence, including murder, rape and tortures against Timorese civilians. It recommends both presidents apologise for their contribution to the carnage.

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15/5/08 - Following is Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s brief but very direct response to the statement by the Australian Catholic Bishops…

The statement of the Australian bishops is not unexpected, but it is disappointing. My book is about the response to the revelations of sexual abuse within the church. Sexual abuse is all about power and sex, so it is surely reasonable to ask questions about power and sex in the church. In their statement, the bishops appear to be saying that, in seeking to respond to abuse, we may investigate all other factors contributing to abuse, but we may not ask questions concerning ways in which teachings, laws, and attitudes concerning power and sex within the church may have contributed. This imposes impossible restrictions on any serious and objective study, and it is where I have broken from the Bishops Conference. We must be free to follow the argument wherever it leads - Bishop Geoffrey Robinson.

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