wfn.org | WCC Comments on Nobel Peace Prize

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World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
11 October 1996

          WCC COMMENTS ON AWARD OF NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
         TO BISHOP CARLOS BELO AND MR JOSE RAMOS HORTA

Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the WCC, has made the
following comment following the announcement that Bishop Carlos
Belo of East Timor has been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
with Mr Jos? Ramos Horta:

"Bishop Belo has been the pillar of strength around which the
people of East Timor have built their struggle.  Humble and
soft-spoken, he has inspired his people in prayer and action by
remaining firm to his convictions that the people of East Timor
are responsible for their own destiny.  Throughout the years of
the struggle, he has endeavoured to avoid confrontation and seek
a peaceful resolution of the conflict in East Timor based on
principles of justice and equity."

Mr Clement John, of the WCC's Commission of the Churches on
International Affairs and someone who knows both the East Timor
situation well and the two new Nobel laureates, says of Mr Horta:

"Jos? Ramos Horta has worked tirelessly, almost single-handedly,
to keep the East Timor issue on the international agenda.  He is
a familiar figure at the UN Commission on Human Rights where he
has constantly worked in support of the struggle of the East
Timor people as well as for the promotion and protection of their
human rights".

Contact: Clement John, WCC International Affairs
	Home: (41.22) 348.0744   Office: (41.22) 791.6218

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now
330, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually
all Christian traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a
member church but works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest
governing body is the Assembly, which meets approximately every
seven years.  The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
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