A Catholic bishop who won a Nobel Prize sexually abused boys in East Timor

Bishop Jiménez Bello celebrating mass in Portugal in 1999 / photo: EPA PHOTO LUSA/ANTONIO COTRIM/ma/kr

The Vatican confirmed today that the bishop Carlos Jimenez Bello, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been under "disciplinary sanctions" for the past two years for allegedly sexually abusing boys in East Timor in the 90s.

A Vatican spokesman said in a statement that the office dealing with sexual abuse cases received allegations "about the bishop's conduct" in 2019 and imposed sanctions within a year, Beta reports.

Sanctions include restrictions on movement and performance of duties, and he is prohibited from contact with minors or contact with East Timor.

In the spokesperson's press release Matteo Bruni it said the measures were "amended and strengthened" in November 2021 and that Bello formally accepted the sentence on both occasions.

Bello won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 along with the East Timorese independence fighter, Jose Ramos-Horta, to campaign for a just and peaceful resolution of the conflict in that country, as it fought to gain independence from Indonesia.

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