Kyodo News Service

East Timor's Bishop Belo visits Hiroshima

HIROSHIMA, Sept. 19 Kyodo

Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Belo, East Timor's spiritual leader and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, on Tuesday visited the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima and presented a wreath to the monument for A-bomb victims.

Belo, speaking in English, said destroying a city and its people is a crime against humanity. He said he will pray with others for a world without nuclear arms.

He also said he would like to learn from the experiences of Hiroshima in rebuilding East Timor, which on Aug. 30 marked the first anniversary of its vote for independence from Indonesia.

Belo arrived in Japan on Thursday to deliver an address to an international forum on Friday and Saturday last week on refugees and migrants organized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan.

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