[citation needed] By 1975 he was vicar general of Diocese of Dili,[1] the principal assistant of the bishop, José Joaquim Ribeiro.
[a] The two of them joined in opposition to the Indonesian invasion of December 1975 and Ribeiro showed courage in communicating his views to foreign reporters, but he found himself close to nervous collapse by late 1977.
[3] The Diocese of Díli had once been part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy that mirrored that of Portugal's colonies, but on 1 January 1976 had been given exempt status, making it directly subject to the pope.
In particular, he criticised the forced conscription of 50,000 men and boys to form a human chain to help crush the Fretilin resistance, and he denounced the Indonesian army for the massacre of 500 women and children at the Shrine of St Anthony at Lacluta in September 1981.
"[citation needed] Meanwhile, he continued to highlight the evidence of massive starvation in the resettlement camps and gave his support to his priests who sought to stand alongside the people.
[citation needed] In a letter to Australia, he accused the Indonesian military of mass murder, and anticipated widespread famine unless large food supplies were urgently imported.
[citation needed] After Lopes wrote to Australian officials in late 1981 to warn of an impending famine, Gough Whitlam, former Australian prime minister, a longtime advocate of Indonesian control of East Timor, visited East Timor in March 1982, met with Lopes, and disputed his claims.
[citation needed] He continued to campaign on behalf of the Timorese, mobilizing support worldwide on the basis of universal human rights to counterbalance the anticolonial rhetoric of guerillas resisting the Indonesian.