Subject: 'austraLasia' #421

TIMORESE SALESIAN BRINGS SITUATION TO ATTENTION OF KEY AUSTRALIANS

Julian Fox

(Drawn from article in Catholic Weekly, Sydney, Sept 17)

SYDNEY: 17th Sept -- Bro. Marcal Lopes, the headmaster of Don Bosco Technical High School Fatumaca (East Timor), recently made a lightning visit to Australia and, accompanied by Australian Bro Michael Lynch, the Salesian Missions Office director there, put the present situation of East Timor before students, politicians and even Australia's elder statesman, Gough Whitlam.

Bro. Lopes explained how the students and faculty at Don Bosco stayed put during the events subsequent to the referendum in September last year. it was a decision which was difficult to make and to sustain, given the circumstances affecting so many families of those attending the school, but in the end it would have appeared to have saved them from harm. The school escaped unscathed.

The visit by Bro. Lopes is certain to encourage continued assistances from many parts of Australian society which has already been generous to the extreme in supporting the newly independent East Timor and in particular the Salesian mission there which numbers some 100 Brothers, Priests and Sisters, and thousands of young people.