UN, abuse survivor groups seek Vatican investigation of Belo

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The United Nations and advocacy groups for survivors of clergy sexual abuse are urging Pope Francis to authorize a full investigation into Nobel Peace Prize-winning Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo. The call came after the Vatican’s sex abuse office said last week that it had secretly sanctioned the revered independence hero of East Timor in 2020. It forbade him from having contact with minors or with East Timor based on misconduct allegations that arrived in Rome in 2019. But a brief statement by the Vatican didn’t reveal what church officials might have known before 2019.