The treaty has been under negotiation since 2006 but was not finalized until two months ago, Timor-Leste Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo told ucanews.com in an interview Aug. 6.

"Timor-Leste is one of the most Catholic countries in the world," Araujo said.

The Vatican has long been considered one of the country's closest diplomatic friends.

During the Indonesian occupation lasting from 1975 until independence in 2002, the Vatican would appoint bishops to Timor-Leste outside the Indonesian bishops' conference.

Source

• ucanews.com
• timor-leste.gov.tl
• zenit.org
• Image: crossed-flag-pins.com

The archbishop-elect, Monsignor Leo Cushley, is a Scot who was a priest in the diocese of Motherwell before being called to Rome to be trained as a diplomat.

Commenting on his appointment, Monsignor Cushley, 52, said the Church in Edinburgh had "taken a bit of battering" but "I think the fundamentals are good and they are right. The priests and the people are very anxious to move on, and I am with them on that."

He said "I know it's a delicate moment and that there is a lot to be done, but with God's grace and the kind support of
the clergy and people of Edinburgh, I will work cheerfully and willingly with all the energy I can muster….

"My first task is to preach the good news, Christ crucified and risen from the dead, to confirm my brother priests in their Catholic faith and ministry, and to be a loving, simple, wise shepherd to the flock that has been entrusted to me."

As a diplomat, Monsignor Cushley served in Burundi, Portugal, at the United Nations in New York, South Africa and Botswana.

He is currently head of the English-language section of the Vatican Secretariat of State, in which capacity he accompanied Pope Benedict XVI to Malta, Cyprus and Britain.

Last year he was named Prelate of the Anticamera of the apostolic palace — a ceremonial post that includes assisting the Pope when he receives visits from heads of state and other high-profile visitors to the Vatican.

Monsignor Cushley's appointment leaves three of the eight dioceses in Scotland without a bishop. A fourth bishop is due to retire.

Cardinal O'Brien, who stepped down in February after claims of inappropriate behaviour dating back to the 1980s, said at the time: "I will now spend the rest of my life in retirement. I will play no further part in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland."

Sources:

Catholic Herald

The Tablet

The Guardian

Image: The Guardian

The report by Vatican journalist Sandro Magister said Monsignor Battista Ricca, 57, had a live-in lover when he served as a papal diplomat in Uruguay in the late 1990s and early 2000s, that he cruised gay bars and once got beaten up, and that he brought a young man back to the papal embassy and ended up trapped in an elevator with him overnight before being freed by firemen.

Magister said the Pope did not know of Monsignor Ricca's past because his personal file was sanitized by members of a "gay lobby" in the Vatican.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi rejected the report as "not credible".

But the newsmagazine L'Espresso, which published the report, backed it up with a strongly worded response, insisting it was based on "primary sources" and calling the Vatican's denial "improbable and improvident".

National Catholic Reporter correspondent John Allen said Pope Francis "appears to be standing by his man" so far. He quoted a senior Vatican official as saying that the Pope"has listened to everyone and has confidence" in Monsignor Ricca.

Allen added: "It should be noted there's no suggestion in the story that Ricca was guilty of criminal conduct or sexual abuse and no suggestion he ever faced civil charges.

"Defenders of Ricca insist there's another side to Ricca's story not given in Magister's piece but known to Francis. They say Ricca is a genuine reformer and dredging up a seamy chapter of his past from more than a decade ago may be a smear campaign by elements of a Vatican old guard that doesn't want its power and privilege to slip away.

"Even if he is gay and perhaps struggled at one point with celibacy, they say, what does that have to do with his ability to implement reform in a bank?," Allen added.

Sources:

Chiesa

National Catholic Reporter

Daily Mail

Image: David Icke